


The Pit-falls of Vampirehood, according to James Barnes

by Judy_The_Dreamer



Series: The Pit-falls of Vampirehood, starring James Barnes and Natalia Romanova [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Background ThorBruce, Bruce Banner is a werewolf and a doctor, Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Bucky is like a vampire from the X-Files, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Don’t copy to another site, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Masturbation, Meet-Cute, Multi, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Brock Rumlow Friendly, Party Games, Sleepy smut, Steve is a motherhen, Thor is a vampire, Tw: getting shot, Vampire Bucky Barnes, Vampire Natasha Romanov, Werewolf Clint Barton, Werewolf Steve Rogers, bucky has anxiety, build upon many bingo squares, he's a clean freak, invisible monster, secret mvp of this fic: the butcher, secret supernatural community, sick fluff, steve is a kinky bastard, the explicit rating is there for the future chapters, the mystery builds, this grew plot, tw: Brock Rumlow is a sexual predator, tw: horror tropes, vampire burial therapy, vampire/werewolf college AU, vampiric politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-06-25 22:06:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19754701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judy_The_Dreamer/pseuds/Judy_The_Dreamer
Summary: James Barnes is ready to flee the vampire nest and complete his education with an authentic, human college experience.Too bad Steve Rogers is making him feel anything but human.However will he manage?[ON HIATUS]





	1. Mr. Swimsuit Model

**Author's Note:**

> This entire fic is inspired by squares from three fandom bingoes: Bucky Barnes Bingo, Tony Stark Bingo and Stucky Bingo. Every relevant square will be mentioned at the top of the chapter. Enjoy and leave a comment or kudos if you feel like it!
> 
> Thank you, lokivsanubis, for betaing!
> 
> ****  
> Stucky Bingo Square B2 - College AU  
> Bucky Barnes Bingo Square C1 - AU: Fantasy

‘Now, Mr. Barnes, if you could sign your name and the date on the dotted line, the room will be all yours.’

‘Awesome.’ Smiling brightly, James signed his name with a flourish and handed the forms back for the students accommodations officer to copy them. She paused at the sight of his perfect, looping cursive before shrugging and completing her task.

‘Here you go,’ she said, retrieving a key from the extensive rack behind her. ‘I hope you have a great last year.’

‘Thanks!’ Taking a deep breath, James stepped outside into the stifling New York summer. He immediately whipped out a pair of Ray Bans to guard his eyes from the bright midday sun. It would not do to damage his sight now he’d have less access to the coven’s medical facilities. Plus, contracting sun poisoning might just be all the evidence his overly concerned mother needed to put a stop to his little college adventure. 

Winnifred Barnes was a sweetheart to her children but accompanied that with the most intensive helicopter parenting attitude James and his siblings had ever encountered. Who could blame her though? Natural births were rare in the vampire community and Winnifred had managed not only to put one healthy little vampireling in the world but four. In many ways, they were her proudest achievement, but that did not mean her children weren’t desperate to flee the nest. James was the first, by default of him being eldest. But where he went, Becca would soon follow. He bet that if he were to look over his shoulder right that second, at the shadowed grove of trees behind the student offices, he’d see a svelte shadow lounging against the wall. Here was to hoping his sister wouldn’t snack on any co-eds before he got the lay of the land.

His stomach grumbled loudly.  _ Time for lunch! _

‘Alright, alright.’ Grabbing the suitcase and training bag he’d deposited outside the office before going in, James set out for dorm building A, which rose above the distant tree line in all its modernist glory. Which was to say it was goddamn ugly and made the young vampire long for the elegant gothic arches of his parents’ home. Well, beggars can’t be choosers…

The walk in itself wasn’t long, and James would have been more than able to clear it in a few heartbeats if he were allowed use of his vampire speed, but since he’d promised the coven he’d try to stay under the radar… sedate walking it was. From time to time he even made sure to stop and readjust his heavy bag to give the impression that he was struggling with the weight. Just a normal human crossing the lawn. Nothing to see here!

When he entered dorm A, however, and saw that the stairs were deserted, he dropped all pretense and raced upstairs to the third floor where his room awaited behind door 303.

XXXXXXX

Settling in for a vampire didn’t mean installing a coffin in the middle of the room like old legends would have you believe. No, Bucky slept comfortably in a single bed (mandatory red bed covers included) and, instead, chose to invest in a pair of heavy duty blackout curtains. Maximum sleep comfort reached.

Smoothing down the last wrinkles in his sheets, James stood back and judged his work as passable. He wouldn’t be able to do much about the dusty shelving until he could get out to the store for some cleaning products, but his stuff was were it was supposed to be and he wasn’t sneezing every few moments from dust particles invading his sensitive nostrils. He’d earned himself a pat on the back… or a sip of blood to quench his thirst. The butcher right outside the campus grounds had an amazing blend that hit just the right spot and James had been hooked on the stuff from his first day of college. A well-deserved treat for a diligent vampire, and he reckoned he could stop by the store on his way over to get the supplies he needed to vanquish the dust. 

His gaze drifted to the empty side of the room where his roommate was supposed to be and where the dust now coalesced in his absence. Maybe by the time he would be back, the man - ‘Steven Rogers’ the temporary name card out front supplied - would have arrived and they could share in the burden of the deep clean. Unless he was the kind of frat boy that preferred to spend his days mired in his own filth and drinking all kinds of noxious fluids. In which case he and James would have major problems and the vampire would not be excused for his actions.

Anyway, that was a concern for later.

Whistling a happy tune, he grabbed his keys and wallet, checking to see if he’d brought along his mother’s specially provided expense card, and opened the door. Only to be confronted by a man that was so handsome and buff that he couldn’t possibly be anything other than a swimsuit model or a professional athlete, at the least. 

Mr. swimsuit model smiled sheepishly and lowered his hand from where he’d planned to knock on the door when James had opened it. ‘Um, hi.’

Fuck, even his insecurity was attractive. James tried to smile back, but the attempt was ruined by his lingering sense of surprise, emerging as more of a grimace. ‘Hi, there. You must be Steven Rogers, then.’

‘Steve, please. Only my ma calls me “Steven”.’

‘Right.’ They stood there in awkward silence for a minute until Mr. swimsuit model - Steve, James reminded himself - stepped aside to let him through. 

‘Nice meeting you,’ he said with a much better attempt at a smile. ‘I’ll be seeing you soon, right?’

James nodded. ‘I’m grabbing some essentials from the store. Be back in an hour or so.’

Steve peered into the room, hopefully composing a battle plan against dust in his section of the space. ‘Awesome. If you buy cleaning products, I’ll cover half of the expenses.”

_ Praise the Lord.  _

‘I will,’ he promised. ‘Bye.’

‘Later…’ Steve’s  _ terrific, beautiful _ blue eyes flitted to the names advertised beside the door. ‘James?’

The young vampire felt his throat run dry at how nice his name sounded coming from those lips. Maybe he could forgive Steve for having some unfortunate partying tendencies if he said it a few more times this year. For now, however, James had reached saturation and thought it safer to turn on his heel and flee down the corridor towards the blood he now craved ten times harder.


	2. Sweet Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampires make awful patients.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Stucky Bingo 2019 Square A4 - Napping.
> 
> Betaed by @lokivsanubis.

The first weeks of college were a maelstrom of classes, quick blood breaks and awkward encounters between James and his unfairly attractive roommate. After he’d nearly had a heart attack during their joint-war against the dust bunnies, the vampire was trying to figure out if Steve was a curse or a blessing in disguise. 

Steve had been tackling a pair of shelves on his side of the room, dusting like a champ, when James had offered him one of the energy drinks he’d remembered to pick up at the store. Basic vampiric politeness 101, really, feed your human cohabitants. 

The artist - for that’s what Steve surprisingly was: an art major - had turned to him with a smile that could have melted all the ice caps in the world. In that moment James had felt his heart sputter in a way he’ never experienced before in his long life and had instantly known that his roommate was trouble. To make matters worse, Steve’d had this adorable smudge of dust across the bridge of his nose. Suppressing the urge to reach out and wipe the dust away, James had grabbed the nearest rag and swatted his chest with it. Nothing breaks tension like a plain, old ‘you are dirty’. Needless to say, Steve hadn’t smiled for some time after, but at least James’s heart had been safe.

Many more incidents passed like that, with Steve overwhelming the vampire with his unexpected kindness and warmth and James invariably fucking it up. On top of all that confusion landed the fact that Steve turned out to be the touchy-feely kind of guy, which tended to fuck with James’s head. Was the man flirting with him or just so comfortable in his sexuality that he didn’t even think twice about dragging a virtual stranger into a one-armed hug? The mysteries kept piling up, driving the young vampire absolutely crazy.

There had to come a point where the tension would break, or else he’d be moving out before the end of the semester and return to his parents’ to sulk and wonder about what-ifs for the rest of eternity. James was good at that, he had about fifty years of practice.

Luckily, It never came that far.

Disaster struck in the week before Halloween, when most creatures were preparing to go on holiday just to get away from the masses of cheap imitations crowding the streets. James knew through experience that in the coming days about half the faculty would disappear into thin air, claiming family emergencies and mysterious illnesses left and right. It was a noble attempt at curbing human suspicion that never seemed to work as well as the supernatural community thought. James himself had a family vacation to the nearest national reserve planned since July, and had already packed the necessities for a short camping trip, when he got hit with the worst case of blood poisoning ever.

One minute he’d been fine, skipping through immortal college life, the next he’d been expelling his guts into the toilet bowl. The blood contents from his stomach had an unpleasant, brackish brown colour and showed all the signs of a good poisoning. In an instant, James had known his vacation plans were fucked and he’d be spending the next few days in absolute agony. His only relief was knowing who’d gotten him into this predicament.

Despite his many virtues, the local butcher’s that James frequented had little patience for human partygoers who wished to buy up his blood reserves for cheap decoration or pranks. So, every Halloween the man packed up shop and left the vampires of New York to fend for themselves, creating a gap that had to be filled by the supernatural student council. They doubled everyone’s provisions for the week, but it was the worst-kept secret that their extra suppliers were kind of dodgy. In a way James was lucky he’d lasted this long without receiving a bad batch.

The thought did nothing to soothe his roiling stomach though, and James still spent the next few hours in the bathroom clutching at white porcelain.

XXXXXX

That was how Steve found him after he returned from football practice, earning that scholarship like a champ, no doubt. He had been sweating in buckets, wet shirt sticking to his chest in a way that showcased all his delicious abs for James’s eyes to devour. Unfortunately, the vampire could not enjoy the sight as much as he would normally. Detaching his gaze from the toilet too long meant courting imminent disaster, and the last thing he wanted was to ruin Steve’s wonderful post-workout smell with the sour tang of vomit. 

Steve, probably expecting a hot shower and not a sick roommate inside their shared bathroom, didn’t miss a beat. ‘Oh God, James, are you alright?’

He crouched down just far enough that he wouldn’t get caught in a surprise stream of sick, but close enough that he could carefully rest a hand on James’s shoulder blade. His palm was incredibly hot to the touch, even through the shirt he was wearing, and it eased something inside him.

Muscles relaxing, James groaned and said: ‘No?’ Making it sound like a question.

Steve had little patience for pretense, his frown intensified. ‘Have you seen a doctor? Taken any meds? Do you have any allergies?’ 

James wondered if he had a list of 911 questions memorized or he’d been a terrific boy scout sometime in the past. It didn’t matter, anyway. He motioned for Steve to be quiet and tried to explain as clearly as he could, between bouts of intense nausea, that he’d simply eaten something wrong and he’d be fine in a few hours at the latest. Which was a big, fat lie because blood poisoning was known to linger for days if not treated properly, but he wasn’t about to let his roommate call a human doctor on him. Oh no, that would go all kinds of wrong.

For a minute, he thought he had Steve convinced and ready to leave him suffer in peace, but then the damnable man took him off guard again. That lovely, warm hand moved from his back to his forehead, feeling for a temperature, and James felt his heart begin to flutter round in his ribcage like a maniac. He couldn’t blush, his body’s blood reserves were too low, but that did not mean his body couldn’t betray him in other ways.

Steve blinked in surprise and for a hot second James believed his expression must have tipped his roommate off as to his inappropriate thoughts, but that fear was extinguished as Steve cursed loudly. ‘You’re fucking freezing, James! Why aren’t you in bed?’

Oh right, vampires ran cold. Especially when they ran low on blood. Which meant James was probably registering closer to corpse than living being on the scale of healthy temperatures. Steve must think he was dying or experiencing a high fever.

Again, James made to wave off his concerns, but the human was faster. Hooking a strong warm under the vampire’s legs and another to support his back, Steve had him up and out of that bathroom quicker than a demon out of hell. 

From there, everything became a bit of a blur to James. Lulled into a false sense of security by the solidness of Steve’s chest against which he’d pressed his cheek, he was willing to let the man do pretty much anything to or with him. Steve’s personal attention seemed to soothe some of his stomach upset, confusing James further, but in all honesty, he was getting too worn out to care much about mysterious cures. He just wanted to bask a little longer in the man’s arms, thank you very much.

All too soon, his time was up as Steve gently settled him down into bed, drew the red covers up over him and then proceeded to pile what seemed like every blanket known to man on top of him. Most of them were not even theirs, James discovered later, because at some point Steve had simply ran between dorm rooms and requisitioned them from their baffled neighbours. The attention was flattering to the part of James’s vampire brain that wasn’t preoccupied by the warm, buzzing feeling of being buried alive in the softest possible coffin. (James was sure Steve would not appreciate his kind care being compared to a funeral, but it’s not like he’d ever share those thoughts with him.)

Finally, the blanket ‘mountain’ was fully assembled and Steve peered down at him between the gaps in the fabric, his brow riddled with anxiety. ‘Hang in there, James,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna get your doctor.’

And before James could say anything, he was off.

XXXXXX

In an incredible stroke of luck, Steve returned with Doctor Bruce Banner in tow, the only supernatural physician the campus had on staff and a werewolf that everyone approached with equal amounts of respect and fear. Apparently, the doctor had a temper, but James had never witnessed him as being anything other than chill and composed. Maybe a bit too tea-obsessed for his taste, but definitely an okay guy.

‘Please, Bruce, I don’t know what to do.’ Steve’s tone was tense and his fists kept opening and closing restlessly at his side. ‘He won’t warm up and he won’t tell me what’s actually wrong. What do I do?!’

‘You keep calm, that’s what you do,’ Doctor Banner reprimanded Steve like he was a particularly unruly pup. ‘And you get out of the room, so I can concentrate. Go run the perimeter if you’re that antsy.’ It was a strange choice of words, but they had their effect. 

Grudgingly, Steve did leave, shooting one last worried glance in James’s direction.

‘I’m fine, Stevie.’ He tried to wave him goodbye, but forgot his arms were pinned down by the weight of the blankets, so it became an awkward wiggle instead. However, it made Steve smile and that was all he needed at the moment.

The door closed behind his roommate and Doctor Banner leaned over the blanket mountain to examine him. He hummed pensively as he noted James’s blissed out look.

‘So, burial therapy is really like vampire crack,’ he said. ‘Nice to know that’s at least one way in which I can keep Thor down.’

‘Thor?’

‘My partner,’ the doctor clarified, reaching out to gauge his temperature. ‘Hmph. You’re running cold for having fed. When did you first notice the poisoning?’

James frowned, trying very hard to remember through the pleasant buzz in his head. ‘This morning… Around eight-ish, I think.’

‘Then you’re holding up well.’

‘Steve helped.’

‘Of course he did.’ The doctor muttered something under his breath. ‘Now, I’ve got a fresh blood infusion in my bag from my partner’s stash so it should be safe to consume. I added in some healing herbs, so I could feed you half now. Take the second half tonight when the moon is at its strongest peak. The symptoms should have cleared out by tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Sweet,’ James yawned, the rush of endorphins finally giving way to exhaustion, but he opened his mouth obediently when the doctor requested to feed him. The blood tasted fresh and had a zing of exotic spice to it. It made James think of lightning storms.

Doctor Banner had just about stowed the second feeding portion away in James’s secret cooling compartment when there came a knock at the door and Steve entered swiftly without waiting for an answer.

‘How is he?’ If nothing, the run seemed to have cracked his stress levels up a notch. 

‘He should rest until tomorrow,’ Banner replied curtly, packing up his equipment. ‘Keep him inside for a day or two more and he should be fresh as a daisy in no time.’

Steve’s shoulders relaxed. ‘Is there something I could do?’

The doctor considered him for a minute, eyes flicking between the golden athlete and the sick vampire on the bed. 

‘Steve,’ he said eventually, voice deadly serious. ‘Possibly the only thing you can do is climb in that bed and keep him there for the rest of the day.’ Then he dropped the veneer and added: ‘Also, he needs to stay warm and we all know what conveys heat the best…’

‘Another human body?’ Steve ventured, by now he was blushing up a storm.

‘Good boy.’ Doctor Banner clapped him on the back in goodbye and shouted over his shoulder at James as he walked out of the room: ‘Get well soon, Mr. Barnes. I don’t want this one breaking down my door again anytime soon. Thor and I just had it painted.’

‘Okay,’ James mumbled, his eyelids growing heavier by the minute. ‘Bye.’

As from a distance, he heard Steve say his goodbyes and lock the door. He puttered around for a bit while James sleepily wondered why he was suddenly being so reticent. ‘Stevie?’

‘Yes?’

‘Why aren’t you following the doctor’s advice?’ Burial therapy made James loopy, but it also made him astoundingly brave. 

There was a low laugh and Steve sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing down some of the crumpled blankets. ‘Are you sure you want me to get in there?’

‘Cuddles possess healing properties, you know.’

Steve’s grin widened. ‘Haven’t heard, but you’d be the expert, I guess.’

James was already drifting off to sleep when his roommate wormed himself into the cocoon of blankets and threw an arm over him. Steve’s body heat permeated their tiny shared space, accompanied by the smell of physical activity that still clung to him as a pleasant musk. It was heavenly, warm and honeyed like a beam of sunlight.

‘Rest, silly,’ Steve commanded softly, hot breath bursting against the shell of his ear.

James curled his toes in pleasure and fell asleep instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please consider leaving a comment or some kudos if you enjoyed!


	3. Sticky Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A line is crossed and Steve and James's relationship enters new territory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FRIENDLY WARNING TIME:
> 
> Dear readers, this is where the EXPLICIT rating of the fic comes in play. The NSFW scene is pretty instrumental to the plot, so I don't recommend skipping it. If you don't feel comfortable reading explicit smut or have another reason why you shouldn't be reading this, I advise you to stop here and just enjoy the cute fluff you've had. Dark, smutty seas lie ahead. 
> 
> XXXXX
> 
> Written for the Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019 Square U3: KINK: Masturbation
> 
> Thanks to the great ginger_angel for jumping into betaing on such short notice. Thank you 3000!

James woke up ravenous, strange after a straight day of nausea but not unheard of for a dehydrated vampire. His throat felt like dry parchment when he swallowed and his fangs ached, half-extended in the confines of his mouth. Every predator instinct in his body was awake and screaming at him to find food, so he opened his mouth to allow his fangs room to grow without risking perforating his lower lip, and breathed in deeply. 

A shock of honeyed apples and sunshine hit his palate like a lightning bolt and James shuddered to life, searching for the source of that mouth-watering smell. Even with his eyes closed, he could figure out that the source was painfully close by, lying hot and ready next to him under the sheets. Rolling over, James sprawled over their body, holding it in place as his nose buried into a soft shirt. 

_ Oh yes. _ He groaned as his hand slipped underneath it and discovered the pronounced ridges of his victim’s abs and the sweet trail of coarse hair leading down. Saliva pooled in his mouth, its sedative properties making his tongue tingle slightly. He knew just where to spread it…

Nosing his way up along a broad chest, he found the perfect spot: the soft skin at the base of the neck where he could hear the blood pump clearest. The beat sounded steady and strong, the blood would be delicious. Impatiently, he licked a long stripe up that strong neck and revelled in the shiver it elicited from his victim.

‘James?’ The victim’s voice was deep and sleepy, tinged slightly in confusion. ‘What are you doing?’

The vampire’s hand froze where it had begun to inch under the elastic band of sleeping pants, just a few bare centimetres separating his fingertips from the heat of his victim’s arousal. He knew that voice… It sounded exactly the same every single morning when it greeted him from the other side of the room, its owner lovely and endearing in the morning light. 

Steve _ fucking _ Rogers was in his bed and James had just licked him like he was his favourite kind of lollipop. 

Snatching back his hand from Steve’s pants, he veered upright and threw himself off the bed. Briefly stumbling over the tangle of blankets that had kept them warm during the night, James landed on his ass, fangs cutting into his lip in a blinding flash of pain. Oh God, he couldn’t afford to bleed in front of Steve. Pressing a hand across his mouth to hide the unnatural sight, he scrambled to his feet.

‘James, hey, what’s wrong? Come back...’ Steve’s hair stuck up in all directions, entirely too adorable for the situation. 

_ What’s wrong, Steve? I just had my hand down your pants like a creep _ , James thought furiously, recoiling as Steve stretched out a hand towards him. Giving in would mean burying his fangs into Steve’s jugular and possibly draining him dry. He could not do that. Steve was too good a man to end that way. 

‘I’m fine,’ he mumbled behind his hand, turning away from the delectable sight in his bed and scrabbling for his room keys on the dresser. A steady stream of blood was beginning to coat his fingers and he lapped it up hurriedly, hoping Steve wasn’t awake enough to pay attention to the wet sounds coming from him.

The bed frame creaked behind him as Steve got up. Keyed in to the man’s body as he was, James could hear his heartbeat quicken.  _ No time _ .

‘You’re not fine,’ Steve said, a stubborn edge entering his voice. ‘You’re still sick and delirious. Get back in bed and we can talk it out later.’

James really didn’t want to talk right now, or later for that matter. He gripped his keys firmly and rushed to the door, shrugging off Steve’s hand as he reached for him. 

‘Leave me alone,’ he ground out, still muffled behind his hand. ‘I’ll be back.’

He swore Steve whined as he ducked through the partially opened door and slammed it closed. The broken noise kept echoing inside his head as he, still in his pajamas, flew through deserted corridors and crashed against the door of the only person on campus who could understand the misery he was in.

‘Nat,’ he called out, banging on the door. ‘Open up, damn it!’

XXXX

On all fronts, Natalia Romanova was a brilliant friend, ready to stand up for James’s wellbeing ever since they’d met in kindergarten. (A sad homeschooling affair organized in a senior coven member’s modern home. There had been little to do, so of course the levels of mischief soon became legendary and little Nat and Buck had established a blood pact early on to cover each other’s ass when the adults came to interrogate them.) It was a friendship that lasted through the awkward, lusty phase of vampire teenagedom and a few misplaced fumbles. James cherished her deeply and liked to think she thought the world of him despite her permanent look of exasperation.

Case in point was the look she was sending him right now over the rim of her steaming cup of coffee. ‘Remind me why you were screaming down the neighbourhood at the ass crack of dawn?’

James rolled his eyes. Nat’s greatest hobby was overdramatizing everything he did. 

‘I was hardly screaming,’ he said, emptying an extra vial of blood into his coffee just to be on the safe side. ‘And I thought you might appreciate the severity of me nearly turning my roommate into a snack.’

‘A very hot snack, me thinks.’ Nat’s tongue darted out to lick her lips languidly. ‘I’ve seen him in those tight shorts at practice. Your taste is impeccable as always.’

That was not what he needed to hear right now, but he couldn’t deny that the thought of Steve bending over in those trousers did have his eyes glazing over a bit. 

‘I do, don’t I?’ He sighed, taking a long sip and letting the mixture of coffee and blood warm him from within. He blessed Nat for possessing an excellent collection of blood bags and a set of his spare clothes. There was no better place he could have run to calm down.

At all times Nat gave off the impression that she was completely chill, and her attitude had earned her a fearsome reputation in the coven. She was the vampire you went to if you had a problem and you needed a quick fix for it. From there it was a logical choice for her to study law at the same college as James, although her parents had let her live on campus from day one. She was James’s rock away from home. He’d come to her for advice more times than he could count. That did not mean, however, it was always great advice.

As a matter of fact, Nat often approached life with a casualness of spirit that stressed James out to no end. A fling with a human didn’t even register as trouble on her radar. She was simply that confident in her own ability to get out of trouble. It’s why their friendship worked so well: James was the worrywart and Nat the dare-all. A pretty pair they made. 

‘Anyway,’ Nat began, curling a fly-away piece of her hair around her finger with a coy look. ‘I don’t see why you wouldn’t at least try to see where it goes. Fool around a bit, get your sexy on and take a sip here and there. Sounds perfectly fine to me if it’s consensual.’

Frustrated, he racked a hand through his hair. It was growing to be an awkward length and the realization put him even more on edge. 

‘C’mon, Nat, look at me,’ he groaned. ‘I’m barely a catch in human dating terms. Who in their right mind would want to share their life with an anxiety-ridden vampire?’

‘Oh, we’re up to sharing lives now, are we? That’s moving fast even for you.’ James blushed as she lifted an inquisitive eyebrow.

‘I might be in a little deeper than I thought at first,’ he admitted quietly. ‘Keeping my distance is bound to help with my instinctual responses, but emotionally--’

‘It’s going to fuck you up good.’

‘Yes.’

Natalia hummed, leaning back in her chair as she regarded him. James tensed up, knowing that there was some kind of final verdict coming up. She tracked his minute movements closely.

‘You’re pretty anxious right now too,’ she noted. ‘I can’t imagine all this pining you’re doing is healthy for a human, let alone for a vampire. So I’m going to say this: get a taste, James, and for God’s sake enjoy it while it lasts. If you react as strongly to your Steve after a few encounters as you did today, then I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to keep him. Even if it endangers our society.’

James forced himself to look up and meet her gaze. Her eyes, normally hooded and inscrutable, were open and loving, projecting the care that came with her advice. He hoped the smile he sent back let her know how grateful he was for her support, although that hadn’t been the reason why he’d come over at all. 

‘Any idea how to put that plan into practice?’ He asked, voice cracking slightly.

‘Personally, I’d say just walk up to Steve and snog him senseless, but that’s not your style.’ She glanced over his head at her vintage cat-shaped kitchen clock and her mouth curled into a mischievous smile. ‘If you stay a bit longer, Clint might be able to give you a better starting point.’

Clint Barton, Nat’s longtime roommate, came crashing into the apartment with his usual amount of acrobatic grace and social awkwardness. They’d known he was coming from the moment he’d entered the building, because werewolves had a tendency to smell ever so slightly of wet dog. It differentiated them from the humans they lived amongst.

‘Morning, my beautiful people,’ he greeted, stooping to give first Nat then James a big, wet kiss on the cheek. ‘You really are spoiling me today with your pretty faces.’

James shrugged the over-enthusiastic wolf off with a grimace.  _ Pizza breath. Yuck. _

He could never get used to the casual approach werewolves had towards physical contact. On campus, they were the huggiest students around, fond of soft, knitted sweaters and assorted potted plants. No wonder they fit in best with humans out of all supernatural species. 

‘We’re not sitting around for show, wolfie,’ Nat said dryly, wiping off her cheek with the corner of the tablecloth. ‘Bucky,’ -- James scowled at the god-awful nickname she’d given him back in elementary school -- ‘has a very special need for you to fulfill.’

‘Does he now?’ Clint wiggled his eyebrows suggestively in his direction and to his horror, James felt blood heat under his skin. 

‘I don’t need  _ you _ ,’ he glared, flipping Nat off in the process. She only smiled sweetly. ‘I need information about a social event where I might get up and close with someone.’

The werewolf pressed a hand against his chest and fake-swooned. ‘Oh, our darling boy is growing up! Finally planning to seduce someone like a true vampire on the prowl. Who’s the lucky man you want to canoodle with?’

‘Steve Rogers,’ Nat said, rolling her r’s mischievously. 

Strangely enough, Clint’s enthusiasm seemed to falter for a second after he heard the name, but he recovered quickly. ‘Damn, Buck, you’ve got high standards!’ He grinned, revealing teeth a bit too sharp for human comfort. ‘Going after the campus golden boy like a regular Don Juan. I’m impressed.’

James rolled his eyes fondly. ‘Thank you. Now, like I said, I really need a place to start. Where is he usually at? Are there parties he frequents?’

‘Sure!’ Clint grabbed a chair, turned it around and settled down. ‘Let me tell you all about this shindig the student council has planned on Friday…’

XXXX

Like a coward, James snuck back to his dorm room only when he knew for sure that Steve was occupied with a consecutive string of art classes and football practice. He’d thought about crashing on Nat’s couch for a hot minute but eventually decided that he might as well start facing the music sooner rather than later. Friday was coming closer every second after all.

Coming back to the familiar space of his room was actually a relief, even if the threat of Steve’s return loomed on the horizon. James loved the cosy home they’d constructed between the two of them and would almost certainly miss it if they ever upgraded to a full apartment dorm room like Nat and Clint. As much as he sometimes dreaded the lack of distance between him and Steve, he also secretly didn’t want it any other way. Nat had said that was a good sign that their relationship would last, but James was more of a sceptic. Sure, he wanted to get a taste of Steve but that was primarily to get it out of his mind. If the feelings lingered after he’d sated his thirst, well, things could progress any direction and the vampire would be satisfied. He’d be grateful for every minute the man would choose to spend with him.

With a heavy sigh, he let himself fall backwards onto his bed. Most of the blankets had been cleared, probably returned to their rightful owners by Steve, but their own remained in a tangled mess. Their uneven bumps and folds felt horrible against his spine, so James started to awkwardly ruck them up from under him, hoping to get more comfortable. 

He had to roll over to dislodge a particularly horrid crochet blanket, pressing his face up against a brown fleece he co-bought from Ikea with Steve. There, he caught a faint whiff of something... _ alluring _ . The base of it was a familiar honeyed apples and sunshine, but the undertone was vastly different from the sleepy contentment he’d nearly tasted this morning. It was spicy and wild and sent a bolt of arousal straight to James’s groin.

_ Oh shit. _ He groaned as his brain registered the primal scent of sex that stuck to the fabric. Involuntarily, his own hips bucked against the mattress as all the blood he’d consumed that day flooded towards his cock. This was not how he’d planned his return to go. What would Steve think of him if he came back only to find him rutting against their blanket like a horny dog? 

A little voice in the back of his mind scoffed.  _ He rubbed one off first. This is our shared property. If he can do it, so can I. _

Well… James really couldn’t fault that logic. If Steve dared to get down and dirty on their communal blanket, then who was he to protest James doing the same?

Experimentally, he rolled his hips, whimpering softly at the pressure it put against his clothed member. With Steve’s smell all around him, he could almost imagine the blonde pleasuring himself right here on his bed. He wouldn’t have been naked, too frazzled by their intimate encounter to wait long. He’d have dragged his sleeping pants down a bit, just like James had been planning to, and his strong hand would have closed around his cock, stroking rapidly as he tried to find a release.

His imagination and the slow drag against the mattress weren’t enough. Frustrated, James worked open the buttons on his jeans, rolling onto his back to wriggle out of them and his tented boxers. Freed from the constraints of clothes, his cock jutted up proudly. The vampire swore he could see the veins throbbing. Unwilling to wait any longer, he hastily licked a long stripe up his hand and closed his fist around it. A pained moan escaped his lips. It was almost too much too soon, but he pushed through.

Loosening his hold a bit, he stroked tentatively from the base to the tip for a better result. The fire in his groin didn’t burn so aggressively if he kept up a measured pace: up, down, gently circling the head, collecting the pre-cum on his fingers for a better slide. James’s jaw went slack with pleasure as his thumb passed over his slit, other hand sneaking down to fondle his balls.

He wondered if Stevie would do the same, would know where to touch him to get the best noises, would know where to taste… A vision assaulted him of Steve, watching him from under his eyelashes as his mouth closed around his cock. He looked beautiful and utterly debauched and it was too much for James to bear. With a final shaky stroke he came white-hot over his fist and abdomen, a high-pitched moan stuck at the back of his throat.

_ Steve. Steve. My beautiful Stevie _ .

He came down slowly, still lazily caressing himself. There was thankfully no cum splattered on their shared blanket and it looked just the same as when Steve had left it. But James knew that on it, the imprint of his arousal now mixed with Steve’s. A vampire could ask for no better harmony. 

On a whim, he decided that his roommate deserved to get it back. After all, he might want to have some more fun with it.

XXXXXX

By the time Steve returned to the dorm, James was fast asleep, curled up under his scarlet comforter and dreaming of sheep with pointy teeth. The blonde briefly entertained the idea of waking him up, forcing some sort of confrontation about their morning encounter, but he was tired. Hours of non-stop practice had taken it out of him, wearing down his impressive stamina, and he didn’t really have the energy to hold an argument. So, he undressed silently, letting the vampire sleep and crept into his own, lonely bed. 

James had folded their blankets at the foot of his bed and he dragged his favourite fleece up for extra coverage. He let his suppressed senses expand in the confines of their room, like he was wont to do every night before bed, so he could enjoy the feel of the blanket more fully...and inhaled its smell.

Shockingly, overlaying his own characteristic sweet scent was a second, headier one. An imprint of James’s pleasure matching Steve’s perfectly.

With a pathetic whine, the young werewolf buried his nose in the fabric and cursed the distance between them. Sleep didn’t come that night but Steve certainly did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment or leave kudos if you enjoyed! (Or if you have any questions about the future explicit content in this fic.)


	4. Life of the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalia's grand plan comes to fruition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here I am again. Chapter four was a lot of fun to write, and the story is finally moving forward! I might not be able to post next week due to my changing schedule, but you'll get a different fic from me (Stuckony). I am also expanding this series in the future so if you want to check out what the supernatural school board or Natalia are up to, keep an eye on the series page.
> 
> My lovely beta was Madeleine_Ward.
> 
> For the Stucky Bingo 2019: D2 - Blindfolds.

Vampires had avoidance down to a fine art. Naturally light on their feet, they could stalk their victim for months without them noticing. However, no vampire had quite used that talent like James was now, because dancing around Steve Rogers was a whole artform unto itself.

Honestly, he’d expected Steve to be more confrontational, or at least to have mentioned some vague lines that should not be crossed. But no, apart from Steve being noticeably less handsy with him during the last few days, their relationship remained the same -- cautiously optimistic friends trying to survive college. 

The détente was maddening.

Late in the evenings, when they prepared to go to bed, James sometimes caught Steve looking at him furtively, eyes dark and unreadable. It stoked the fire brewing in his gut, but at the same time left him feeling more insecure than ever.

All the while, Friday and the Halloween party of uncertain doom crept ever closer.

The plan was simple. Through mutual friends on the football team, Clint had ascertained that Steve would be present at the yearly (secretly supernatural) student council Halloween bash. There would be drinks, games, and plenty of opportunities for James to try his hand at good, old-fashioned flirting. He was excited, and  _ terrified _ .

Luckily, Nat had accounted for his constant state of anxiety by being there for him every step of the way. She selected his outfit, made him shine his shoes for no good reason, and subjected him to a refresher course on dating etiquette.

‘It’s polite to test the waters first,’ she said, straightening his shirt collar. ‘Nibble on his neck a little and see how he reacts. Then, you can get your fangs involved but don’t--’

‘Bury them in his jugular like a savage,’ James ground out. ‘A slow and steady introduction is key. _ I know _ .’

She dusted a piece of lint off his shoulder with a sniff. ‘Make sure you don’t forget.’

‘Yes, mom.’ He got a slap on the rear for that comment.

It wasn’t like he didn’t feel grateful toward her for the advice, overbearing though it may be, but it did little to strengthen his courage, and did nothing at all to keep the party a distant reality. Perhaps his insecurity magically disappearing was too much to ask for.

He wondered if there was a deity for lovestruck vampires to pray to. (Probably not.) And James was far from the type to go singing with the angelic choir, so he guessed he was screwed in that department.

Better he be on his own anyway, at least that way he’d know who to blame when he fucked the whole thing up.

XXXXXXX

Halloween arrived in full autumn fashion with colourful trees, intermittent bouts of rain, and knock-off pumpkin spice lattes. Business as usual on campus. James joined Natalia and Clint outside the campus ballroom with a stomach full of butterflies and a craving for cinnamon-laced drinks.

Although the party was supposed to take place indoors, Nat had come dressed in a ridiculous amount of winter garb and refused to part with any of it at the door, especially the long, purple scarf she’d draped across her shoulders. She even hissed at him when he tried to take it from her once inside the party, despite her body temperature clearly not being far off from boiling point. Luckily, vampires rarely passed out, or James would have been carting her off before the hour was out.

Nat only rolled her eyes as he gave voice to his concerns. ‘Stop being such a worrywart, Bucky. Fashion has never killed anyone before, and I’m not about to let it kill me. Go grab us some drinks, will you?’

‘I thought we were here to help me get laid, not to turn me into your drink slave.’

‘It’s all part of my strategy. The drink table is the perfect spot to get the lay of the land.’

That actually did make sense. Even if James rarely attended parties, he was familiar with the universal rule that alcohol was the nexus around which humans and supernaturals tended to congregate. Although he’d never seen Steve drink more than the occasional beer, there was a good chance he’d pass by at some point or other.

‘Fine,’ he said, clapping a hand on Nat’s shoulder to show that he wasn’t overly glad to play into her opportunism. ‘I’ll get you your vodka martini.’

Nat hummed, pleased. ‘Bring back a handsome blond too!’

‘I’ll try my best, but Clint will have to satisfy your tastes for now.’  _ Take that, you scheming little minx.  _

‘Eww.’ Clint scrunched up his nose, mirroring the vampire’s disgust. ‘I’m not a snack for your enjoyment, coldblood.’

Stepping backwards, James grinned mischievously. ‘And for that comment, I’m bringing you back a dog bowl.’

Clint’s shout had many heads turning in their direction, ‘Oh come on! That’s unfair!’

Sensing that his friends would soon be distracted by greeting the other partygoers, James took the opportunity to escape to the drinks table and the blond adonis he hoped to meet there. He was to be disappointed.

No Steve was in sight when the vampire arrived at his destination, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others who were looking forward to getting his attention. 

‘Hello there, Barnes.’ Brock Rumlow unfolded himself from the shadows like an eldritch horror from a Lovecraft story. Tall, built like a brickhouse, and consisting of ninety-five percent testosterone, the football player was one human James rather ghosted than talked to… Not that his strict avoidance ever held Brock back from leering at him whenever he could. 

‘Hi, Brock,’ James nodded in return, praying against all hope that the acknowledgment would satisfy the man’s need for attention. 

‘I don’t see you at these gigs all that often.’ So much for idle hope.

Quickly busying himself with grabbing Nat’s vodka martini, James shrugged. ‘Not really my style, I guess.’

‘Right,’ Brock said dryly. James could feel his eyes looking him up and down hungrily. ‘You’re the kind of guy that needs a more  _ personal _ atmosphere to let loose. Not gonna find that here, though I could think of a place…’ He trailed off suggestively and the vampire suspected  _ my room _ would pop up number one on Brock’s list of places he could receive some ‘personal attention’.

‘Thanks, but I’m here with friends.’ He motioned towards Nat and Clint, who seemed to have miraculously laid hands on a bottle of scotch without even coming into the vicinity of the refreshments. There went his excuse for a swift getaway.

As Brock looked over, he let out a chuckle and leant in closer. Realistically, James would be able to push him away without breaking a sweat, but that would mean tipping off the human as to his supernatural side and he didn’t want Brock to have that kind of hold over him. 

‘They appear to be doing alright, James,’ he whispered conspiratorially, his hot breath making the vampire shrink away in disgust. ‘I’m starting to think you just like playing hard to get.’

Brock’s arm slid around his waist, clamping a possessive hand around his hip bone as he tried to tug James closer. ‘Frankly, I’m losing my patience, so why don’t you be a good boy and forget about your friends for a minute. You don’t want to be thinking about them when I’m fuck--’

‘Rumlow!’ Oh sweet, merciful gods. Steve Rogers was the greatest gift the universe had ever bestowed upon James.

Locked in place by Brock’s hold on his waist, the vampire had to twist awkwardly to look over his shoulder. Steve’s usually sweet baby-blues were hard like ice shards as his gaze came to rest upon Brock’s transgressing arm. Despite his predicament, James couldn’t help but think that the tightening of his jaw was unbearably attractive. All that bottled up power ready to be set free... Dare he hope Steve’s anger was born of jealousy?

‘Captain.’ Brock’s greeting was curt, bordering on impolite, and it did nothing to calm Steve’s apparent anger. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Yes.’ Steve stepped forward, planting his bulk in the little space there was left between him and James, and forcing his teammate to let go of the latter. ‘As captain, it’s my duty to enforce team policy. We’ve got an important match tomorrow and we need to be as fresh as possible.  _ No hook-ups _ .’ He stressed the last two words so hard that James swore he could hear his teeth grinding together.

Fury and indignation flashed over Brock’s face before his expression carefully smoothed out. ‘Of course, Captain. Rules are rules.’ His eyes flicked to James over Steve’s shoulder. ‘I hope you remember to follow them too. Have a good evening.’

Embarrassingly, James felt his cheeks flush.  _ Well, so much for being subtle. _

When Steve turned around to face him, however, he was stone-faced and clearly not in the mood for anymore chit-chat, let alone some casual flirting. 

‘James,’ he inquired, voice hard. ‘Do you want to report Brock for this?’

He pondered the question for a second. It was an appealing offer, but ultimately, he doubted that it would stop Brock from harassing him in the near future. If push came to shove, James considered himself to be more than able to handle himself in a physical confrontation.

‘No, thank you. Brock’s an obnoxious prick but he hasn’t actually done me any harm.’

Steve relaxed incrementally at that and nodded. ‘If you’re sure. Clint sent me over because he thought there was trouble, he’ll be glad to have you back without any unwanted attachés.’

_ Never knew jealousy could be such an attractive look _ , James thought dreamily.

Feeling brave, the vampire went up to his tippy-toes and leaned over to press a kiss against his saviour’s cheek. ‘Well, thank you for the save, my white knight. I’d better go show Clint my face before he dies from conniption.’

Steve went red as a tomato. ‘Ummm. You do that.’

Smiling secretively, James sashayed towards where he had last spotted his meddlesome friends.  _ Mission accomplished. _

XXXXXXXX

The rest of the night stayed blissfully Brock-free as James watched Clint, Nat, and pretty much everybody else in the room get progressively more drunk. Although he was in a room filled with loud music and even louder people, James felt oddly content. There was a peace in being the only (mostly) sober person in the room and watching everyone’s special quirks come out. Nat, usually too inhibited to dance much, dusted off all her ballet and freestyle moves until she became the undisputed star of the dance floor . Meanwhile Clint, strangely bright-eyed for how much vodka he’d consumed, finally freed her of her precious scarf.

Occasionally, James allowed his eyes to wander through the room to locate Steve among the revellers. The last time he’d caught a glimpse of him, he’d been rosy-cheeked, bantering excitedly with fellow art majors. James wished he was actually brave enough to walk up and join the conversation, but he’d probably have nothing sensible to add. His knowledge of art ended at the paintings his father sometimes dragged home from the auction house, and those weren’t exactly valuable pieces. On some level it made him doubt whether he and Steve even shared interests they could talk about, but then he remembered they’d never run out of topics to discuss before. As long as they both put in effort to keep the conversation alive, they could go on for hours.Theoretically, they should be fine.

He’d been so occupied with thoughts of Steve and their hypothetical future relationship that James hadn’t noticed a hush falling over the room as a very familiar voice rang out.

‘Hey, folks!’ Clint had succeeded in climbing on top of the cocktail bar and waved Nat’s scarf around wildly to get everyone's attention. ‘Who’s up for a game of spin?’

A drunken cheer rose up from the crowd as students started pushing their friends forward to participate. A strong shove nearly sent James sprawling forward onto the sticky floor. He could make out Nat’s high, cheerful laugh as he recovered his balance. Oh, she’d pay for this.

Above the din of protests and encouragements, Clint’s voice continued: ‘For the occasion, we’ve instituted some special rules. Number one, only singles get a shot. We’ve got no time for your homewrecker drama so keep it in your pants, attached gents and ladies!’

There was a brief, disappointed murmur, but the crowd calmed down quickly.

‘Second, since the council wants to maintain their eco-friendly policy even while getting down and dirty with the rest of us, and we all know glass is a hazard, there will be no bottles involved in our version of Spin.’ He brandished the scarf like a demented matador. ‘Instead, we’ll use this lovely, silken piece to blindfold all candidates.’

‘Kinky!’ Somebody shouted from the back of the gathered crowd. James suspected it was Wilson from his psychology class.

Clint treated the room to an exaggerated wink. ‘You’ve got it! We spin you round and the first sucker you get your hands on is all yours for one glorious kiss...or more.’

In a room containing various supernatural creatures with heightened senses, it was clear who’d have the advantage. James began to see the outline of the plan that Natasha had hatched. He wondered if the second pawn was also in place.

A quick perusal of the participants revealed a flash of golden hair at the front. Steve, clearly uncomfortable with being singled out like this, appeared to be in the process of trying to disappear into the woodwork of the bar. James suddenly felt both better and worse about himself.

_ It’s for a good cause. He’ll thank you later. Hopefully. _

‘First round volunteers,’ Clint directed. ‘Form a circle at the front and pick somebody to go first.’

Not willing to risk another tripping episode, James hurried over, slotting in between a cool-eyed Gamora Thanos and one of Steve’s art buddies, who he only knew under the moniker ‘Mantis’. He wondered if either of them would volunteer to be blindfolded.

Two minutes later, Clint had assembled a respectable, if a bit wonky circle of willing kissers and kissees. James wasn’t surprised to see Brock and his abominable best friend Rollins join in. They were working each other up, jabbing elbows into each other’s sides whenever they noticed a participant who caught their fancy. Confusingly, Brock’s attention slid right over James like the vampire wasn’t standing there at all. Instead, his calculating gaze was fixed upon a certain tall blond. James got the sense that the football player had picked out another target for an attempted fucking. In any case, trouble was brewing between him and Steve.

Speaking of the man, just outside the circle, Steve was trying to convince a broadly grinning Clint to not put the blindfold on him. So the plan was pretty much as James had surmised: blindfolded and dizzy, Steve could wind up in anyone’s arms, but it also meant that the participants in the circle could change the outcome without him noticing. James could place himself in a more favourable position once Steve had been spun and the man would be none the wiser.

Another cheer went up as a blindfolded Steve was led to the middle of the circle by Clint. The wolf paused briefly to shoot a wink at James before planting his ‘volunteer’ firmly in the middle and patting his broad shoulders in comfort. ‘Are you ready, oh honourable captain?’

‘Just get it over with,’ Steve replied with a sigh, his discomfort projected through the stiff parade rest he’d taken on.

‘Then please start spinning.’ To aid him in the endeavour, Clint grabbed onto a beefy arm and started pulling the poor art major round. Steve got with the program quickly, taking over the spin completely as the wolf counted down the seconds until he could stop.

James tensed up in anticipation when the countdown reached zero and the blond came to a halt, staggering away from the center of the circle.

To his horror, James realized that Steve’s haphazard steps were carrying him to entirely the wrong side where Brock and Rollins were awaiting him, grinning like cats who got the cream. The vampire’s superior hearing caught Brock’s self-satisfied murmur, ‘He’s gonna be screaming for some fun by the time I’m done with him. Just imagine how good he would look wrecked on the floor.’ In anticipation of his victory, the man stepped forward and James involuntarily held his breath, dreading what was to come.

Suddenly stumbling to a halt, inches away from Rumlow’s expectant embrace, Steve cocked his head to the side as if he were listening intently for something over the music. Then, using what was left of his momentum, he veered sideways, evading both Rumlow and Rollins and coming dangerously close to crashing head first into a tiny sophomore, who squeaked in alarm as she jumped out of the way. An apology on his lips, the athlete spun around again and settled on a path headed straight for James’s side of the circle. Heart pounding away in his chest, the vampire forced his feet to move forward, positioning himself in front of an indifferent Gamora, and braced for the inevitable collision.

Steve’s momentum as he bumped into his chest had them both wobbling backwards until James put his considerable strength to use to stabilize them, his hands flying up automatically to cradle Steve’s sides. The familiar smell of honey and apples assaulted his senses as the slightly taller man settled against him.

‘And we have a winner!’ Distantly, James registered a chorus of cheers and cat-calls going up. As if in a dream, he watched Steve lift the scarf from his eyes and drop it to the floor, baby blues alighting upon him. Adrenaline started to pound through his veins. What was going on inside the blond’s head? Was he as eager to kiss James as the vampire was to kiss him? Did he want to run the other way screaming? Doubt started to creep in as Steve regarded him for what felt like an eternity, expression unreadable. James began to sweat a little, blinking nervously as he tried to not look away. If Steve was going to reject him, he wanted to see the determination behind it reflected in his eyes, then he’d never forget where idle hope had gotten him.

Finally, a small smile tugged at the corners of Steve’s mouth. ‘Hello, James.’

‘Hi,’ he squeaked back, heart fluttering like a tiny bird’s wings. ‘How are you?’ Immediately, he wanted to smack himself. What kind of stupid question was that?

‘I’m good.’ Steve’s smile broadened as the cheers around them intensified. ‘I do believe you owe me a kiss. What are you waiting for?’

_ Nothing _ , James realized with a jolt.  _ Absolutely nothing _ .

Glancing down at the inviting curve of Steve’s mouth, slightly puffy like he’d been biting down on his lower lip, James decided he was going to be brave, to be the kind of guy that this angel deserved.

Determined to do this right, he slid his right hand free to cup Steve’s face, gently guiding him down to where he could press their mouths together. He sighed softly at the first tentative brush of their lips, savouring the sweetness of the very public moment. He could be happy if it ended this way. Steve did not agree.

With an impatient noise, the blond slotted their mouths together more firmly, hands coming up to card through James’s hair, holding him in place as Steve’s tongue ventured out to entice him into deepening the kiss.

Groaning at the dual sensation, James opened up, allowing him right in. He’d expected the same slick slide that he was familiar with from previous dalliances, but Steve’s tongue, like the rest of him, was an entirely new experience. Parts of it were rough and strangely textured, causing tingles to spread all the way from James’s mouth down to his toes. At the back of his mind a snippet of knowledge clicked in place.  _ Not human _ , it seemed to whisper.  _ Werewolf. Strong. Safe. _

Werewolves were the bogeyman of every vampire’s childhood, yet James didn’t feel an inkling of apprehension. Steve was good. Steve was protective of him. Steve was a bloody fantastic kisser. The vampire shivered helplessly as the blond disassembled him thoroughly by tongue alone. 

Eventually they had to part, both gasping for breath as the sounds of the room returned in stereo. Excited catcalls filled the ballroom as people clapped and egged them on. All of James’s blood promptly fled to his cheeks and he buried his face against Steve’s broad chest to hide them. 

Still out of breath, Steve panted next to his ear. ‘As much as I’d love to continue this, I can’t exhaust myself the night before a game. But I promise you, we’ll have our fun soon enough.’

Through a haze of confused arousal, James felt him pull away, dropping a feathery soft parting kiss on his forehead. 

‘See you around, James.’

‘Yeah. See you, Stevie.’ Then he promptly crumbled through his weak knees, landing in Nat’s embrace as she crept up behind him. Her delighted laugh was all he needed to confirm that her plan had indeed been a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if you enjoyed, please leave a comment or kudos!


	5. The Secret Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After James and Steve shared their first kiss, the world is forever changed. (And not in a good way.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the proof that I can't keep anything pure fluff, somehow angst and plot always find their way into my work. This chapter is basically 2/3 romantic drama and 1/3 horror film. You decide which is which.
> 
> THIS IS ALSO KIND OF A TRIGGER WARNING IF YOU DON'T LIKE HORROR TROPES IN YOUR FIC. (There will be more.)
> 
> Anyway, thanks to the awesome betheflame (@betheflame1 on Twitter) to doing an awesome beta job and making me feel less anxious about writing action scenes. 
> 
> Written for the following bingoes:
> 
> Stucky Bingo 2019: Square E3 - Tony Stark  
> Tony Stark Bingo 2019: Square A1 - Silver Haired Tony  
> Bad Things Happen Bingo 2019: Square A2 - On the Run  
> Hurt/Comfort Bingo 2019: Square E3 - Attacked by a creature

A luminous half-moon had risen high above the campus grounds when Steve ducked outside the student’s hall, lips tingling and swollen. The night air was just chilly enough to cool his burning cheeks as he started out across campus. He did his best to ignore the discomfort of his hurried movements causing the inside seam of his jeans to chafe against his burgeoning arousal.

Every twinge reminded him of the vampire he’d left behind at the party, so clearly desiring to follow him home to where a bed was waiting for them. As Steve’s tongue had mapped every square centimeter of James’ mouth, his mind had wandered off to imagine what other places he could steal a taste from. In the comfort of their dorm room, he’d sometimes glimpsed dusky pink of nipples after a shower, the enticing hollows of hip bones peeking over a low-riding towel, and pale glistening skin covered in water droplets, ready to be licked off. Under that towel there would be James’s cock, of course, hard and flushed the prettiest pink, primed to explode under the right attention. Steve would have traced the vein down to the base with his tongue, laved the balls as they drew tight, before digging in between James’s cheeks to spear his tongue right into his tight, little hole.

Steve stumbled forward with a curse as his cock throbbed painfully, making him miss a step. Breath hitching, he raked a hand through his sweat slick hair and tried to regain his composure. He hadn’t been doing a very good job of keeping his thoughts from straying to his vampire. His gorgeous James.

The trouble he was having with keeping his mind out of the gutter proved to him that he’d had the right idea to not spend the night at their shared room, lest he jump the vampire’s bones after all. He needed to remove himself from temptation and quickly. So, he sped up his pace as he hit the carefully manicured lawn in front of the student offices and ignored the right turn which would lead him in the direction of the dorms in favour of continuing the main walking path past the university medical science compound. Behind the compound stretched a broad green swath of densely forested area, effectively dividing the campus in two. Steve knew the paths here well, he’d raced over them many times as a young pup.

To the east lay the hill meadows and the botanical garden terraces that belonged to the biology department. Ideal spots for a wolf pack to roam during the full moon, or for the local warlock coven to hold their equinox festivities. These areas were secluded but still accessible to the general student population. If a curious human were to stray to the northwest in the forest line, however, they’d soon encounter a high, metal fence, forged out of thin shards of rune-inscribed vibranium, the only metal all supernatural creatures were vulnerable to. Its primary function wasn’t to scare humans off though, but to discourage violent attacks from other supernatural communities. Within the vibranium border one could find the only non-segregated supernatural community on the eastern seaboard. The village was a hotchpotch of werewolves, vampires, warlocks, and other lesser known creatures of the night. All inhabitants were in some way connected to the university’s inner workings.

This is where Steve had grown up after the old New York pack had been destroyed. Where his ailing mother had spent her last breath knowing her only pup was in safe hands. Where his foster family and pack had shown him what it meant to be a modern werewolf. It had all happened in the house of the pack alpha.

Steve took his time ambling up the last stretch of the path, giving his arousal time to subside. He knew if he’d arrive at Happy’s guard lodge with a massive boner, the man would alert his foster father the moment he stepped into town. Steve very much did not want to be questioned tonight by the overzealous pack alpha.

As he passed the last bend in the road, the fence came into view, glittering mysteriously in the moonlight, filling the air with a faint hum of ancient magic. Sure enough, Happy was at his post by the lodge, greeting Steve with a jaunty wave.

‘Hello, Steve,’ he called, rising from his chair as the younger wolf approached. ‘What brings you over for a visit so late at night? I don’t believe the boss was expecting you to be home before the holidays.’

Steve rolled his eyes fondly. ‘When you put it like that, you make it sound like I’m half a continent away instead of a mile. And anyway, I’m just going to crash at our house for the night. With any luck, he’ll be so deep in his research that he won’t even notice I’m home.’

Happy pulled a face. ‘Wouldn’t count on it. Boss has been in all states since we received news of those attacks on vampire coven members in the city proper.’ Steve frowned. That was news. As far as he knew James hadn’t gotten any concerning messages from home. He barely even exchanged texts with his sister, preferring to meet her once a week at a city café.

The same idea seemed to cross Happy’s mind. ‘Say, aren’t you shacking up with one of the Barnes’s kids? He must be stressed out with the attacks being focused on solitary vampires. You should advise him to stay on campus until we’ve figured that shit out.’

‘I will,’ Steve promised solemnly. A cold sense of foreboding spread through his mind as he remembered he’d left James alone at the party without checking if Natalia was going to escort him home. Maybe he should go back and… No, he’d come this far. It was better he persevered now instead of giving into baseless fear. Either way, James could look out for himself. Steve suspected he’d been hiding a lot of his strength and speed from him.

He took his leave from Happy in a decidedly worse mood than before, arousal completely forgotten in the face of unknown danger lurking around New York. Making haste, he jogged through the gated community, most houses gone dark as their inhabitants slept peacefully. However, his destination, the largest house situated by the central square, was still lit up from within by a blue light. Steve knew then, against all hope, that his foster father was still up and about.

Well, there was nothing for it. He climbed up the steps leading to the front porch and pressed the doorbell. A moment of silence followed, then the lock suddenly sprung open to reveal an eerie, floating figure which appeared to be made up entirely out of mist and starlight.

‘Good evening, Jarvis,’ Steve greeted, smiling sheepishly. ‘You’ve got a bed for me?’

‘We’ve always got a bed available for you, Master Steven.’ The reply seemed to come out of nowhere, since the house spirit had no distinct features except for a vague humanoid outline with which he beckoned Steve inside. ‘I’m sure sir will be pleased to have you back with us so soon. He has missed your presence dearly.’

Steve opened his mouth to keep Jarvis from alerting his father when a second voice cut in. ‘Who have I missed now?’

His foster father emerged from deeper inside the house. His dishevelled appearance betrayed that he’d likely just come out of a long engineering binge. Dirty streaks of motor oil stood out against the silver of his hair. Tony Stark visibly perked up as he spotted his eldest foster son. 

‘Tony,’ Steve said simply, walking forward to hug the smaller man close. When he breathed in, he was accosted by the familiar scent of cedar woodsmoke and gunmetal, overlaid by an undeniable hint of alpha werewolf. In turn, he allowed Tony to take a sniff at the juncture of his own neck in accordance with werewolf scenting customs. He felt Tony inhale and then stiffen.

‘Steve,’ the alpha muttered darkly. ‘Please tell me you’ve switched colognes, because you stink like vampire.’

Steve’s fuzzy feelings abruptly evaporated. Shit. James’s scent must be all over him after the way they’d clung to each other. This was exactly why he’d wanted to evade Tony upon his return, but the issue had completely slipped from his mind after the worrying news at the gate.

‘Umm.’ Steve drew back from the embrace, gaze dropping to the floor as he struggled to find a good excuse. ‘I can explain?’

Tony’s mouth tugged up at one corner in a wry smile. ‘And I’m sure I don’t want to hear it, but sadly we can’t all live our lives in blissful ignorance. You’re in trouble now, pup.’ He clamped a hand around Steve’s shoulder to indicate that there would be no possible escape from the Starkuisition. ‘Get in my office.’

XXXXXXXXX

In the wake of Steve’s kisses, the noise of the party came flooding back in. James staggered backwards in a daze as his senses became overwhelmed by the influx of information. The party music, the ambient chatter of excited humans, and the quiet thumping of heartbeats came crashing over him like an avalanche of sound. James knees buckled under the sudden overstimulation.

In an instant, Natalia’s arms tightened around his waist in a vice grip as she kept him from crumbling to the floor. He winced as her nails dug into the meat of his sides, but the painful sting brought the world back into perspective.

‘I think you should sit down.’ Way to state the obvious.

Making use of his brief bout of clarity, Nat started dragging him away from the circle. If she wanted to, she was capable of lifting him straight off the ground in a fireman’s carry, but James reckoned his fellow students weren’t drunk enough to let that kind of spectacle go unnoticed. Anyway, her strength was more than enough to drag him across the floor if he were to lose his footing and really go down. Frankly, he was glad for it, because at the moment he felt very much like a baby deer taking its first few steps.

As Natalia manoeuvred them through the mass of spectators, people cheered and clapped him on the back. Sam Wilson, the prick, even ruffled his hair in passing. ‘Good going Barnes. You might get laid sometime this year at the rate you’re going.’

James clumsily batted his hand away. ‘Fuck off.’

He got only a laugh in reply as Wilson stepped aside.

‘Ignore him,’ Natasha said as she guided him to walk in front of her so she could use his larger bulk as a shield while they tunneled through the remaining gathered partygoers.

There was a scattering of chairs and beanbags along the edges of the ballroom and Natalia pushed him down on a particularly plush bag with a grunt.

‘You’re surprisingly heavy,’ she remarked as she plopped herself down next to him. ‘Must be all those worries in your head piling up.’

James didn’t dignify her jab at his mental state with an answer, choosing to burrow into her warm side instead. His heart was still beating like he’d run a marathon, his body almost pulsating to the rhythm of it. Listening to Natalia’s slow crawl of a heartbeat usually calmed his own down considerably.

Knowing what he seeking out, Natalia freed her arm squished between them and used it to draw him further in to rest his head on her chest. There it was. Ear pressed below her breastbone, James could easily hear her heart work to pump the blood through her system. He forced his tense muscles to relax as he counted each and every one of the thumps.

‘If I’d known you’d react in this manner to a simple kiss, I’d never have arranged for it to be so public,’ Nat began as she carded a hand through his hair, rearranging the strands Wilson had disturbed. ‘You look like you’ve been screwed ten ways from Sunday. A debauched little cherub, you are.’

She stroked a finger over the flushed skin of his left cheek to illustrate her point. Now that she’d called attention to it, James felt even more blood rushing up to his face. He must be approaching tomato status by now.

‘You could have warned me,’ he said, muffled by her shirt. ‘The kiss was…’

He trailed off as he tried to find the perfect words to describe the experience of snogging Steve Rogers. How their bodies had fit together wonderfully, pressing close in all the right places. The rough slide of tongues as Steve had explored his mouth. The absolute toe-curling pleasure as the werewolf set his nerve endings on fire. Werewolf…

Abruptly, James lifted his head to catch Natalia’s gaze. ‘Did you know?’ He asked sharply.

‘Did I know what?’ Natalia schooled her expression meticulously, but after nearly fifty years of friendship, he could tell that she’d been hiding more than a few details from him.

Challengingly, he poked her in the ribs, just below her ticklish spot, making her flinch instinctively. ‘You know damn well what I’m talking about. Were you always aware that he was a werewolf, or was that just a little tidbit you conveniently forgot to share?’

‘More of the first. Tiny bit of the second,’ she replied cheekily, squirming as his fingers danced threateningly along her side. ‘I thought you at least suspected. He displays plenty of the behavioral markers and you’ve been living in each other’s space. He doesn’t even smell that different from Clint. Three-quarters wet dog and all.’

‘Excuse me?’ James said indignantly. ‘Steve smells amazing. He’s apples, honey and sunlight. When he gets aroused, his scent reminds me of sweet cider…’

Natalia was looking at him like he’d grown a second head.

‘You don’t get those scents from him?’

‘Very much not,’ she said, stunned. ‘That’s… weird.’

Discomfited by what her surprise implied, Bucky shifted in place nervously. He’d gotten ‘weird’ thrown at him a lot growing up. When his anxieties had cropped up one by one during his childhood and teenage years, and then had taken a prominent spot in his life, many of his coven members had pointed at his unconventional behaviour and deemed him a solitary vampire, unfit to function in vampiric society. In the conservative atmosphere of the traditional covens, unconventional or strange equalled to being an outcast. And although Natalia didn’t call him weird in the same way his relatives did, the use of the word still stung.

Up to this point, he’d never once doubted the naturalness of his affections for Steve, had considered them the logical product of his attraction and fondness towards the man, but now… Was his attraction to Steve nothing more than a phase caused by his inherent weirdness? If so, was he leading the werewolf on unfairly?

Clued in to his many fears as she was, Natalia seemed to sense the downward direction his thoughts were spiralling into. ‘Hey, stop that,’ she commanded, grabbing onto his limp hand and squeezing it tightly. James forced himself to meet her gaze as she spoke intently, ‘There’s no shame in pursuing happiness, you hear? If Steve is instrumental to that, no one has any right to tell you you can’t desire or love him.’

‘The coven will feel otherwise,’ James mumbled gloomily. ‘We aren’t solitaries, Nat.’

Natalia sniffed. ‘Aren’t we? Some days I can’t tell anymore. Anyways, the coven is an antiquated institution, James. I thought you knew I don’t give a rat’s arse about what they say.’

It was strange to hear his usually reserved best friend speak out against their home so vehemently. Of course, Natalia had less ties to the coven than him. She had been adopted by an older couple after her parents had fallen victim to the Russian coven wars. Her loyalty wasn’t cemented in blood. But James had a family, a set of living parents and three silly younger sisters that got into all kinds of trouble. He might no longer be with them every day, but neither could he imagine having to live separated from them for the rest of his existence, especially Becca, who was closest to him in age. James couldn’t become a solitary as long as he had them, could he?

He shrugged helplessly. ‘I’m not as brave as you.’

‘Nonsense.’ She softly pushed him off her, so they could both sit upright, and cupped his face with her free hand. ‘You’re braving your insecurities every minute of every day. That’s more than I have done or said so far. The coven’s judgement doesn’t decide who or what you are, James. They will only drag you down if you let them, and I will gladly spit in the coven master’s face if it means saving you from hurt.’ Her eyes burned with a green fire. His throat constricted at the unwavering conviction he saw in her. ‘Promise me you’ll remember that.’

James swallowed down the lump in his throat. ‘I promise,’ he croaked. 

‘That’s all I ask.’ Nat smiled softly, leaning in to press a kiss to the corner of his eye where a tear was welling up. He leaned into the light touch, enjoying the simple comfort the gesture gave him. How lucky was he to have this woman by his side?

Eventually, she withdrew but kept her hand covering his. They watched each other exhaustedly for a long minute, quietly collecting the courage to get on with the party after the strain of the conversation. Natalia broke the silence first, tugging on his hand as she rose up from the bean bag.

‘Come on, Bucky,’ she encouraged him gently to follow her example. ‘Let’s go. The party vibe is wearing thin.’

‘No kidding,’ he said, getting to his feet, steady and sure once again. ‘The music is giving me a headache.’

She chuckled. ‘Blaming the DJ is the most unoriginal excuse of all.’

‘Yeah, well, I’m not feeling incredibly creative right now.’

‘Fair,’ she agreed with a grin, leading him by the hand to the exit. ‘Let’s grab our coats and get you home to your wolfie.’ 

XXXXXXXXX

Ten minutes later, they closed the doors of the student hall behind them, waving goodbye to the sleepy senior managing the coat desk. The outside air had a frosty quality to it, heralding the first snow of the year. Shivering, James drew his coat tighter around him. Natalia did not follow his example. Some allele in her Russian genes refused to categorize any temperature above the freezing point as cold. Needless to say, she’d always been the last one standing during snowball fights. It was a kind of endurance James both envied and feared. Natalia made a formidable foe on the battlefield.

Natalia took his hand with a fond look, stroking a warm thumb over the back of it. Wordlessly, they started walking down the paved path that led to the central park in front of the student affairs offices. From there, they’d split up and go to their respective homes. James was looking forward to seeing Steve again, even if he’d be asleep. 

The campus after dark was surprisingly calm. Normally, they should be hearing the noise from other students celebrating the weekend with friends or just playing music to accompany their late night studying sessions, but the buildings surrounding the park lay deathly still. The click-clack of Natalia's heels echoed against their concrete walls. As they hit the grass of the park, the sound of their steps became muffled too. And yet, none of the other expected nighttime sounds greeted them. No distant hooting of a barn owl, no chirping crickets, no scurrying of field mice… Through their intertwined fingers he felt Natalia tense. So, she’d noticed the odd silence too.

Trying to appear casual, he pulled her into the shadow of a nearby tree and caged her in against the bark like he was planning on engaging her in a private make-out session. Her vision was sharper than his in the dark, and from this position she could keep watch over his shoulder and remain protected by his bulk at the same time. By now, the hair had risen up on both their necks.

‘Can you see anything,’ he whispered in her ear. Breaking the eerie silence felt dangerous, like he was provoking a hidden threat by simply opening his mouth. Nat seemed to feel similarly, because she practically plastered her lips against his ear as she answered.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ she said, hesitantly. ‘I mean, there’s the buildings and the trees and all the stuff.’ Her fingers skittered restlessly over his chest as the tension surrounding them continued to mount, falling over them like a stifling blanket. ‘The shadows are kind of funny though…’ She trailed off uncertainly, her hands stilling against him, but James didn’t experience any comfort from her apparent inability to see the source of the oppressive feeling. Two possibilities presented themselves to him. Either, they were experiencing the world’s wackiest form of folie à deux in a deserted park, or whatever was out here was supernatural in nature like them, and probably a lot stronger. In which case hanging around would amount to suicide.

Making a split decision, he grabbed hold of Natalia’s hands once again and hissed quietly, ‘On my count, we run.’ 

He didn’t even reach three before she shoved him hard and sent them both tumbling to the wet grass. With a deafening crack the trunk of the tree exploded, raining splinters of wood on them. Between the space of two blinks, James caught a glimpse of a shadowy arm shaking itself loose from the tree, preparing for another strike. Nat was up on her feet in a fragment of a second, pulling him up with her like he weighed no more than a stubborn sack of potatoes at the supermarket. They began to run, first scrambling in their haste and then more fluidly once their pace synched up. A furious roar went up behind them as the shadow pursued. It was the only sign that it was on the move. Its feet made hardly any impression on the grass and James could barely make out its displeased hissing through the rush of the wind in his ears.

Going through the park towards the dorms wasn’t an option now they knew the creature had considerable reach. James didn’t want to risk getting swiped by another shadowy arm like that. However, the creature’s position also left everything at the other side of campus wide open. His mind raced over getaway routes as he interlocked his fingers more carefully with Natalia’s. They wouldn’t get separated now unless the creature were to severe his arm. 

As the humanities building, where he took most of his classes, flashed by on their right, windows dark, he realized that school buildings would be locked up firmly at this hour, warded against intrusion by their warlock superintendents. They’d need to somehow shake the creature off in the space between the concrete structures. Unfortunately, university president Strange’s love of mazes did not spread outside the architectural elements on campus. 

‘The forest next to biology,’ Natalia shouted, nails digging in to get his attention. ‘We can outmaneuver it there.’ James thought of the dark stretch of woods at the edge of the university proper. The underbrush off the beaten path would indeed be dense enough to impede a larger creature while they would be able to pass pretty easily. 

‘Alright,’ he agreed just as another shadowy tentacle came down to his right, digging a deep groove into the grass and the harder ground below. He bit into his lip hard to stifle a scream.  _ Don’t show it you’re scared, _ a voice at the back of his mind urged him.  _ If you do, it will know you’re likely to make mistakes. _

_ Well _ , James thought desperately,  _ let’s hope the forest isn’t one, then. _

Amping up their pace, they careened through the narrow service alley between the library and the biology building. Their pursuer slowed, struggling to fit itself through. Hope surged in James’s chest. If they could make it to the treeline before the creature managed to get itself on the other side, they would have a good chance of escape. Heart pounding, they flew into the last open space separating them from the dark protection of the forest. They were going to make it! They were…

Right as they cleared the first row of underbrush, a sharp bang broke through the cold night air. Like in a dream, James felt Natalia jolt violently next to him with a hoarse scream. Immediately, the scent of fresh-spilled blood filled his nostrils as she started to falter.  _ No no no… _

Breathing heavily now, he released Natalia’s hand and slung his arm around her waist instead, supporting her as her legs nearly gave out. 

She let out a pained groan as his hand brushed her lower side. ‘Fuck.’

He didn’t acknowledge her discomfort, focusing on keeping her feet moving along. Unless the shadow creature had somehow acquired a rifle during the brief chase, that shot had not come from it. Which could only mean one thing: somebody else had it out for them, and they might not find a pursuit in the woods as cumbersome as the creature. Consequently, the both of them needed to keep moving. Behind them, he could hear the beginning of a large shape moving laboriously through the underbrush. 

Putting in the last bit of his strength, James tried to quicken their pace again, half-carrying Natalia through the trees and bushes. He did not know how far the forest stretched, nor what lay beyond, but in the far distance he caught a shimmer of something silver. It looked like a fence. Gods, what if there was no way out from here? His heart sank.

Without warning, the bushes in front of them parted and a large shape bounded through. James stumbled to a halt, barely managing to keep Natalia upright as he watched it approach them in horror. It walked on all fours and was easily as tall as James himself if not taller. When it growled, a row of sharp white teeth was bared, ready to rend any kind of prey apart. He could see powerful muscles work under a thick coat of dark fur as the second creature zeroed in on their position. James braced himself, closing his eyes as he cradled Natalia closer. They’d both go down together. 

With a waft of hot breath, the second creature reached them and carefully nudged James’s shoulder with a wet nose.  _ Huh? _

The vampire opened one eye to peer at the unexpectedly polite creature. Under a direct beam of moonlight, stood not a monstrous creature, but a large, proud wolf. James shook as a wave of relief went through him. A werewolf. They’d been found by a werewolf.

The wolf nudged him again, more insistently, before showing them its side and slightly lowering its bulk.  _ Climb on up _ , its friendly eyes seemed to say.

James didn’t need to be told twice. Trees cracked not that far away as the shadow creature came ever closer. 

Grabbing onto tufts of thick fur with one hand and heaving Natalia, who was panting heavily, onto the wolf’s back with the other, James hung on tight as the wolf rose to its proper height and set out for the silver fence. Even burdened with two adult vampires on its back, the wolf ran faster than James ever could have, its form uniquely suited for the terrain. If they hadn’t had a murderous creature in hot pursuit, James would have found it quite exhilarating. 

Finally, they hit the fence, as foreboding as it was beautiful. It appeared to be wrought out of delicate metal bars, completely unsuited for warding off violent attacks, but something in the way the metal glinted maliciously in the night made James think that there had to be more to it than meets the eye. Certainly, the wolf seemed to believe so, for it was very careful to not let the metal touch them or itself as it clambered through a low gate. Once inside the boundary, the wolf extended a paw to hit a pale blue flagstone, causing a bright rune to flare up, sealing the opening in the fence behind them. Immediately, it started to emit a loud hum like it had been charged in some magical manner. Through the bars James could make out the shifting of tree and bush as the creature lumbered up to the fence as well.

James prepared himself to slip of the wolf’s back, expecting it to engage in some kind of face-off, but it continued to walk briskly through a slightly tamer version of underbrush. Whatever this place was, James thought, somebody went through a lot of trouble to keep the grass well-maintained. There were even little flower and herb plots scattered in between the trees. It made him think of fairytale dwarves living in the woods. Sadly, the houses that came into view did not fit that picture. In fact, the village they now entered looked like regular suburbia. The sound of static reverberated from behind them as the creature hit the fence and James turned just in time to see smoke rise in the air from its invisible form. He hoped it would form enough of a deterrent to keep in on the other side for now. 

Beside him, Natalia cast a feverish glance at the houses they passed by. ‘What the hell is this place?’

James shrugged. ‘Beats me. As long as they’re friendly, I’ll take them over invisible monsters every time.’

Natalia choked out a weak laugh, cringing as it aggravated her wound, and James took care to hold her more gently. With his adrenaline levels slowly dwindling, he was starting to wonder more about the second attack. Going by the noise and the way Natalia had been hit, there had to be a gun involved. Only, James knew of no bullet that could take down a vampire so effectively. Another mystery to pile on top of the shadow creature. Had those two been working together? 

The wolf slowed down as the street opened up into a square, surrounded by larger, more luxurious houses than the ones they’d seen before. The center of the square was dominated by an ornamental fountain. James could make out a vague clock-like shape at the top, lit up with eerie green light, ticking down the seconds. There was a very apparent use of magic in this village, so it had to be a supernatural community of some kind. However, in all his years inside the coven, James had never heard of a community that was home to warlocks and werewolves at the same time. He marvelled at the idea.

Padding to a halt, the wolf faced one of the mansions. It was decidedly more modern than its neighbours, showcasing ceiling-high windows and white-painted steel walls. It was some designer’s wet dream for sure. Encouragingly, there were still lights on inside, casting a strange blue light onto the square. Underneath him, James felt powerful lungs expand as the wolf breathed in a large amount of air, threw its head back and howled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this, please leave kudos or a comment. Or, you can scream at me on my Tumblr blog (judy-the-dreamer). I'm trying to get more active there.


	6. Family Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony have a talk about love and murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter this time due to time constraints in real life. I'm planning to take a two-week posting hiatus to get some work done and write longer chapters (and a sequel to Joystick). 
> 
> As always, thank you to my lovey beta betheflame!
> 
> Written for:
> 
> Tony Stark bingo 2019 square A2 - Interspecies  
> Stucky bingo 2019 square E2 - "Until the end of the line"

In all actuality, Tony’s office wasn’t an office at all. Rather, it was an often ignored corner of the underground workshop where Tony had scrounged together a few stray pieces of furniture. It was completely at odds with the room it occupied.

Not unlike the exclusive steel and glass design of the mansion, the workshop was all about giving the impression of a modern, open space. Walking in, you could see from one end straight to the other, unimpeded by solid walls. Tony had rigged up a system of retractable dividers made out of bulletproof glass. According to his needs, he could have one big space or a few smaller spaces wherein he could work on separate projects. Steve did not like to think about the disaster that awaited them the day Tony forgot to make sure that the wall down between his chemical lab and the mechanic shop. The young werewolf had already put out a fair amount of workshop fires in his time, even temporarily lost his eyebrows to one. The result had been pretty funny to Steve once the shock had passed, but Tony remained in a sour mood nonetheless. Tony, like many other things in life, was more bearable when smiling.

At the moment, for example, he had this furrow between his brows that meant he was struggling with finding an appropriate response to Steve’s unintentional revelation. As a norm, his foster father never shouted at him or his brothers, barely even raised his voice indoors, really. He preferred to have a conversation with his children. A courtesy, as Steve understood it, he’d never been granted by his own father. 

Steve had only vague memories of Howard Stark, but what he remembered was closer to a wretched excuse of a man rather than a human being with actual emotional capacity. Howard had been an integral part of the experiments that had made Steve strong and healthy, but he had not taught Steve what it truly meant to be an alpha wolf like his son had. Tony protected his pack with the loving intensity of an enraged mother bear. While his advice may not always be watertight, Steve could appreciate how the older wolf was genuinely invested in his well-being. It also made a discussion of his current love life inevitable.

‘So, that party turned out to be a lot wilder than you expected it to get, huh?’ Tony asked, faux-casually, as they passed by his disassembling station where a pile of unidentifiable scrap metal lay waiting sadly for a new purpose. Steve hoped the toaster wasn’t among Tony’s recent victims; figuring out the settings was a pain.

‘I wasn’t really thinking ahead,’ Steve admitted as they entered the more casual area of the workshop. Tony kept a second living room down here in case he conked out in the middle of an engineering binge, including a ridiculously comfy couch that was vastly superior to the one upstairs, in Steve’s opinion. 

Tony lifted an eyebrow at him as he plopped down on saidcouch. ‘I hope you thought plenty about  _ them _ before you made the jump, though.’

‘They are never far from my mind,’ Steve said, sinking down in the cushions himself. ‘And this is not your office by the way.’

Grimacing, Tony regarded the vintage office desk that stood off in a lonely corner, piled high with stacks of paper and various knick-knacks. ‘I’m not going near that thing, Steve. I swear Pepper snuck past me earlier this week and left a thousand forms for me to sign. I’m hoping to invoke plausible deniability if I never lay eyes on them.’

‘Good strategy.’ 

An awkward silence fell between them and Steve dropped his gaze to the ground, hoping the floor tiles would hold a clue as to where to start. He saw Tony’s hesitance as a good sign that his father wasn’t too put out about the news that his oldest son was (tentatively) dating a vampire, although he might be a tad resentful about Steve not informing him sooner. To be fair, up until tonight, Steve hadn’t had a whole lot to share. It sure felt like he’d skipped a few courtship steps in going from awkwardly fumbling around in each other’s presence straight to making out in public. Maybe he should have been more patient and crammed a date or two in there beforehand. Did long evening conversations in your shared living space count as dates? Steve honestly didn’t know anymore.

With a long sigh, Tony draped an arm along the back of the couch and lightly patted Steve on the back. ‘Okay, that was awful. Let me try again.’ He cleared his throat and put on a fake chipper voice. ‘Hi, Steve, how’s life?’

For the first time, Steve took notice of the dark circles underneath Tony’s eyes. His foster father seemed to be weighed down by an invisible burden, and the young wolf suddenly felt guilty about adding to it. At best, Tony was moderately uncomfortable when he had to undertake some explicit parenting, despite him having fulfilled the role for years without serious incident.

‘You know how it is,’ Tony babbled on, thumb drawing a nervous pattern against the back of Steve’s neck, which made his inner wolf purr happily. ‘I used to laugh at the insecurity lurking behind all those parenting manuals. Your kids move away and then they don’t tell you jack shit about their personal lives, and fuck, I’m saying it all wrong again.’ He took a deep breath and composed himself. ‘I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m worried and I’d like to know what’s going on. So could you please…’ He trailed off with a helpless gesture.

Taking pity on him, Steve covered the hand now resting on his shoulder with his own, giving it a light squeeze. Tony seemed to draw some comfort from it, but his eyes retained a nervous glint.

‘Please,’ the alpha repeated his request. It only added to Steve’s impression that there had to be more to it than him simply feeling uneasy about his son hooking up with a vampire out of the blue. Tony wasn’t prejudiced enough for that to be true, evidenced by his long standing friendships with both vampires, like Rhodey, and warlocks, like Stephen Strange. Steve had no doubt that whatever was troubling Tony had ties to the strange attacks in town. Who wouldn’t get nervous when their child started to get involved with a vampire right when they wound up dead?

Starting to feel rather nervous himself, he let go of Tony’s hand with a final squeeze and leaned back into the cushions. ‘I should begin with giving you a name, right?’

Tony nodded, tense. His gaze did not quite meet Steve’s. ‘I’d appreciate it. Feels kind of impudent to talk about someone without knowing the first thing about who they are. Of course, I’ve got my ideas going by the scent imprint, but you know that’s not an exact science.’ As of yet, werewolf scientists hadn’t reached a consensus about what shaped a supernatural’s personal scent. Was biology the primary influence, or psychology? Steve liked to think it was a bit of both.

James always smelled of pinecones and fresh snow with an underlying hint of anise, sharp but stimulating in all the right ways. His friend Natasha, on the other hand, was much harder to pin down for him. Steve had caught the odd impression of lilies from her, but nothing more substantial. At this point, he wouldn’t even be able to pick her out of a crowd by it. No, her scent was nothing like James’s, which engulfed him like a hot, perfumed bath every second they spent together. To Steve’s inner wolf, it registered as an open invitation to grab hold of the vampire and never let go. Recently, Steve had managed to reign in this impulse with great difficulty, but he wondered if James would now allow him to indulge. After all, he had no qualms about throwing in some kisses to sweeten the deal. Even more than that if the vampire showed himself amenable. His stomach fluttered excitedly at the prospect.

Fingers tugged on the short hairs at the back of his neck and Steve came to, blinking. Tony was staring expectantly at him. Steve flushed a deep red. Oh God, he’d zoned out again, hadn’t he? This was growing out to be a horrible habit. Maybe he shouldn’t think too deeply of James in other people’s presence. His mind wandered off way too easily.

‘His name is James,’ he choked out, hoping the admission would distract Tony from the tell-tale glow of his cheeks. ‘James Barnes.’

‘That name sounds familiar,’ Tony muttered, frowning. ‘Where have I…’ Then, his eyes widened dramatically, and Steve knew the conversation was about to get a lot less civil. ‘Wait! That’s the guy you’re rooming with. I greenlit him personally and he has the gall to…’ Tony made an indignant noise. ‘Seduce you!’

Slight offended by the way Tony simply assumed he was the innocent in the relationship, Steve retorted sharply, ‘In all fairness, I did most of the seducing up until now.’ Tony gaped at him incredulously. ‘He’s a sweet guy, a little anxious for a vampire, maybe. He’d be mortified to hear you accuse him of profiting off your kindness, now that I think of it. He’s got his heart in the right place.’

‘And I’m sure whatever's in his pants is also in the right place,’ Tony scoffed, a stubborn tilt to his mouth.

If possible, Steve blushed even harder, both from embarrassment and shock. Why was Tony reacting this way, he’d seemed more than fine a few seconds ago? Irritation bubbled up inside him at Tony’s scathing remarks. How dare he attack James like that without giving the vampire the opportunity to defend himself? ‘We haven’t gotten that far yet. But once I saw him rescue a kitten from a tree if that eases your mind. That’s a good samaritan right there.’

‘Not if it was an evil kitten,’ Tony said sarcastically, one eyebrow lifted to convey how unimpressed he was. Steve had forgotten how obnoxious the alpha could get. ‘Then he’s just a mastermind set on making himself look good in front of you.’

‘That’s ridiculous,’ Steve spat back as he shrugged Tony’s hand off.

‘Vampires can be ridiculous too, Steven,’ Tony explained, he retracted his arm and gestured wildly like he was painting a scene for Steve. ‘Werewolves are far from the only supernatural creatures that are capable of making bad calls. The romance section at the bookstore is full of stories about their mistakes.’

Steve puffed up angrily, the red in his cheeks caused by something far less pleasant than embarrassment. ‘James isn’t ridiculous to me, Tony. In fact, I’d say he’s been more present in my life lately than any of the pack members have been.’ He paused briefly, daring Tony to deny the truth of that statement, but the man only motioned for him to go on with an impatient look. Somehow, Tony’s indifference made him even angrier. Why hold back? It wasn’t like he had anything to hide anymore.

‘Whether you like it or not,’ Steve continued, determination bleeding through. ‘I’m going to stick by James until the end of the line. That could be next month, or ten years from now, or never, but you won’t hold me back from being with the only person I’ve had serious feelings for since Peggy left for England. I don’t know for sure if James is the real deal, but I’d like to receive the goddamn opportunity to figure that out.’

Tony watched him, stone-faced. ‘Ever since I took you in, you’ve been waiting for the right person. What makes James Buchanan Barnes,’ he articulated every syllable of the full name carefully, ‘the “right” one?’

‘I said I don’t know,’ Steve seethed quietly, his nails digging into the palms of his hand with the effort of holding himself back from doing something stupid like knocking Tony’s lights out. The set of his shoulders was so stiff that he felt like he’d never be able to relax them again. ‘But some part of me loves him, and I’d thought you’d at least respect that.’

‘If that part of you is your inner wolf,’ Tony replied with infuriating calm. ‘Then I’ll respect the hell out of it.’ 

A tense silence fell between them as they stared each other down. Deeply exasperated with his foster father’s attitude, Steve didn’t know whether to plea with Tony for acceptance or to strangle him in frustration. That would mean he and James could drive off into the sunset without scathing commentary. Sure, he’d carry the guilt for the rest of his life, but that was a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. And what was up with Tony’s obstinate refusal, anyway? He’d been reacting pretty well before James name had been dropped. 

Unexpectedly, as Steve resigned himself to gazing challengingly into his alpha’s eyes for however long needed to get him to cave, a muscle twitched in Tony’s jaw. Like the sun peaking through the clouds, he could suddenly see the veiled mirth lurking behind the facade of obstinacy. In a flash of clarity, Steve realized that he’d been goading the younger wolf on purpose, just to see how vehemently Steve would defend his new relationship.

Abruptly, Steve’s anger deflated and was replaced by bone-deep embarrassment. He’d walked right into the trap Tony had set for him. 

‘You know I hate it when you test me like that,’ he sighed, finally relaxing his fists. There were tiny, red half-moons pressed into his flesh. ‘I feel like an idiot after.’

Tony granted him a slow smile, extending his arm again to pull Steve in to rest his shoulder against his. ‘An earnest idiot, at least. And congratulations, by the way, your anger management has definitely improved.’

‘Thanks.’ Steve smiled back sheepishly. Tony didn’t need to know that if it had been any other person sitting on that couch with him, talking down James, Steve would have probably taken the swing. He cleared his throat. ‘No congratulations on getting my first kiss?’

Tony rolled his eyes fondly, ruffling his hair so it stood up in small, blond peaks. ‘I’ll congratulate you when you succeed in convincing him to come to dinner. If he’s going to date a werewolf, he should get a crash course in pack dynamics. We can keep him safer that way.’ And there it was again.

‘Is this about the incidents in town?’

‘Murders,’ Tony corrected with a sad frown, his free hand tapped a nervous rhythm on his knee. The shadows under his eyes seemed to grow darker at the thought of him, his silver hair lost its sheen as he hunched over slightly. ‘In the past two weeks our scouts have reported that around five murders with vampires have taken place within the city proper in that same period. That’s not a coincidence, that’s a pattern.’ He got a pinched look. ‘I won’t trouble you with the details Rhodey has managed to share with the pack, but involving yourself with the New York coven is tantamount to courting disaster right now. They’re losing members left and right, and those who leave don’t always make it out alive. Something is happening in there that has even the hardiest of vampires on the run.’

Steve swallowed hard as he imagined James ‘You think the coven is targeting its own members?’

‘We can’t say for certain. I can only look at the plummeting number of solitaries in the city and wonder.’ 

‘I can’t let James become a statistic,’ Steve decided. There really was no doubt in his mind that he was currently one of the few people looking out for the vampire, if his family’s radio silence was any indication. ‘I’ll have to warn him about what we know.’ Steve swallowed heavily as he imagined James returning home for the holidays, unsuspecting of the viper’s nest he was walking into. His stomach clenched in agony. The beast within balking at the thought.

Tony’s expression turned sympathetic. ‘Of course. I never said you shouldn’t.’

He tugged Steve closer again into another hug. The young wolf closed his eyes and enjoyed how Tony rubbed his chin over the crown of his head, leaving the subtle scent of pack behind.

‘Until the end of the line, Steve,’ the alpha reminded him gently. ‘Stand by your words and look after your vampire.’

Steve nodded against his foster father’s chest. He swore he would.

Suddenly, a shudder wracked through Tony and his grip on Steve became tight, almost bruising. He could feel the prick of extended claws through his shirt as parts of Tony shifted involuntarily. The alpha’s sudden distress caused a similar reaction in Steve’s bones. The wolf stirred restlessly under his skin and he tensed with the effort to tamp the urge to shift down.

‘What is it?’ His question came out as a growl, the wolf clawing its way out via his throat. The alpha was connected to all of the pack. To make him act this way, there had to be a pack member in danger.

Tony shushed him with a deep rumbling sound, holding up a finger towards the ceiling. ‘Listen!’

The walls of the workshop were meant to be soundproof, but Steve shut his eyes again and let his senses expand and past the cracks of the protection. There, coming from the square, he caught the faint echo of a howl on the wind. And the smell of freshly spilled blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a comment or kudos!   
> See you in two weeks!


	7. Into the Wolf's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The direct aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a confession to make: chapter 7 was finished about two weeks ago, but I've lost some of my drive to write for this fic, so I wanted to hold off until I had more of the next chapter written down. 8 is coming along slowly but surely, and I felt bad keeping this from you any longer. Even if my life is hectic at the moment (and I've signed up for two big bangs), I'll try to get the next chapter to you by the beginning of December.
> 
> Also, I've changed the title to shorten it slightly. 
> 
> This chapter has been beta read by the wonderful betheflame, who is the living embodiment of Pepper Potts in this universe. 
> 
> This fills the square B4 - Weakness for the Stucky bingo.

The werewolf’s howl broke through the wall of silence that hung over the hidden village, reverberating through James’s body with a force that sent his bones rattling. Huddled against his side, Natalia whimpered as the motion aggravated the wound. Instinctively, he clutched her closer and prayed that they hadn’t made a terrible mistake by letting themselves get carted off by a werewolf.

‘Really...could do without this,’ Natalia choked out from between gritted teeth. Her nails dug into the meat of James’ arm as she clung to him more firmly so she wouldn’t accidentally slide off the wolf’s back. He winced as tiny half-moons of pain blossomed across his flesh, but he bit back a curse. Doubtlessly, he was getting the better deal here.

‘Yeah, me too,’ he replied humorlessly. 

With a last low rumble the howl finally faded into the ether and the wolf turned its head to take stock of his passengers with a curious look. As it took in their troubled expressions, the beast seemed almost affronted by the fact that two vampires weren’t more impressed by its howling prowess. It judged them from the corner of its big brown eye and clearly found them wanting. The emotion was so human that it startled a laugh out of James, but he sobered quickly and jumped at the chance to get them some answers. There had to be some human consciousness lingering inside that animal skull.

His throat was dry as the desert, turning his voice into a croak as he addressed the wolf. ‘Umm, hey there?’ He nervously carded a hand through the wolf’s fur, hoping that would appease the beast in some way. 

The wolf inclined its head.  _ Yes? _

Feeling a tiny spark of hope flare to life in his chest, James swallowed down the gravel in his mouth and continued: ‘It’s not like we don’t appreciate you bringing us here,’ he said, wondering if his words would only offend the werewolf further. ‘But my friend needs help and we’re not exactly sure where  _ here _ is.’ Natalia underscored his statement with a low groan as she shifted uncomfortably. 

‘What my awfully polite friend is trying to say,’ she gasped between heaving breaths while the smell of her blood intensified. ‘Is that we’d like to get some help right now.’

‘Please?’ James added for good measure. He received a well-aimed elbow in the side for that.

If Natalia’s rudeness bothered the wolf, it didn’t show it. Instead, the beast treated them to a deliberately slow blink, which James took to mean it had understood their wishes. The vampire sent a quick thank you to the universe as the werewolf started to move again, padding up to the single, lit-up mansion on near-silent feet. From up close, the bright blue light transformed from innocent coloured festival LED to an eerie glow that hummed with magic. 

This place was so openly supernatural it felt surreal, James thought, astonished at the tingle that danced over his skin. It was night and day with the curtailed-off coven houses he was used to. Where everyone did their absolute best to hide their true nature behind closed doors and three layers of curtains. Compared to that, this village screamed  _ freedom _ . For a second, his concern was swept away by a swell of wistfulness.

He did not have very long to linger on the sentiment, however, as the wolf sunk to his haunches in one fluent movement. One flank was thoughtfully angled towards the lowest of the porch steps so that Natalia would have less trouble reaching them. 

‘Smart beast,’ she noted with a half-smile and gave the wolf a good scratch behind its ear in thanks. Then she shifted her legs to the side with a low grunt and started to slide off its back. James loosened his hold in order for her to lower herself. When she gave the okay, he let go of her weight completely. She slipped out of his embrace easily enough, but her landing left something to be desired. He winced as her knees buckled, causing her to flop rather inelegantly onto the steps. It would have been funny at any other moment in time to see her usually composed future kickass lawyer-self stumble around like a newborn foal, but right now it only reminded James that he should be taking better care of her. Heart in his throat, James hurried after her. When he helped her upright, his hands came away bloody and Natalia appeared even paler than before. To her credit, she didn’t even flinch as she pressed her hands tighter against the wound.

‘Hurry up,’ she demanded quietly and indicated the mansion front door with a toss of her head. ‘You’ll have to be a big boy and go up there by yourself. Ring that fucking bell.’

‘Got it.’ He patted her shoulder as he got up from his knees, reassuring himself that she’d wouldn’t suddenly perish on the steps the moment his back was turned. She kicked his shin weakly in retaliation as he climbed past her. Just a few steps later, the metal door of the manor loomed in front of him. To James’s frayed nerves, it appeared cold and impersonal, and he found himself wondering if it reflected the level of compassion of those who lived within its walls. But no matter what attitude waited for them inside, there was no way James wasn’t going to knock and at least try.

He sucked in a fortifying breath and immediately grew nauseous as the smell of copper and lilies flooded his nostrils. Despite being a bloodsucking monster of legend, he firmly believed blood belonged inside people.  _ Especially Natalia’s blood _ . How ironic that just a few hours ago he’d been hungering after Steve’s. His sense of guilt intensified. If not for James’ crush, they wouldn’t have wound up here, terrified and hurt. He looked over his shoulder at her small form at the bottom of the steps.

Natalia seemed to sense the path his thoughts were winding down and let out a groan that was equal parts frustration and pain. ‘Come on! I’m not getting up from this crazy comfortable step before you have a first aid kit in your hands.’

That managed to get half a smile out of him. Before the spark of good humour could escape him, James turned back and pressed the buzzer. A muffled chime that reminded him of those copper Tibetan meditation bowls resounded from inside. Immediately, the metal door started to retract back into the wall like it had been sourced from a horror science fiction film. James stepped back in surprise. The blue light that now spilled out through the opening wasn’t bright enough to hurt his eyes, but nonetheless he had to blink very hard to get his brain to register the wispy figure standing in the doorway. James had never seen a creature made out of pure energy before but he reckoned that the ghostlike figure in the doorway fit that description perfectly.

‘Good evening, young sir,’ the ethereal sprite greeted James in an impeccable British accent. ‘How can I be of assistance?’ The vampire realized he’d been staring into thin air with his mouth half-open like an idiot, struggling to compute what strange world he’d walked into.

He cleared his throat. 

‘Ummm, we--’ The rest of his sentence was abruptly drowned out by the banging of a door opening and closing and rushed footsteps.

‘Jarvis, we’ve got trouble!’ A grey-haired man came into James’ view from the right, marching up to the door like he was planning to storm out of the door regardless if the vampire blocking his way would be wise enough to get out of his path or not. And James wasn’t a big fan of being bowled over by strangers, so he stepped to the side, plastered his back against the doorjamb and braced for possible impact. Fortunately, it appeared the hurried man wasn’t so stuck in his own head that he didn’t notice the awkward form of a stranger lurking in the doorway. The man’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline in surprise as he drew to a halt, inches from James himself. 

‘Well fuck,’ he said. ‘This is just becoming a day full of weird coincidences, huh?’

‘I do believe trouble has come knocking at the door, sir,’ the sprite -- no,  _ Jarvis _ \-- added helpfully as its form shimmered in what must pass for a friendly gesture. ‘And trouble also seems to arrive in pairs if I’m not mistaken.’

_ Shit, Nat. _ He really was the worst friend ever.

‘My friend’s wounded,’ he hurried to say, indicating Natalia’s general direction with a sweep of his arm while he rambled on. ‘We’re both vampires, so if you have a specialized first aid kit to spare, we’d be insanely grateful if we could borrow it for the night.’

If possible, the man’s eyebrows shot up even higher. ‘Awfully polite, isn’t he?’ he remarked to Jarvis.

‘Indeed, sir, perhaps you should endeavor to do the same.’

‘Ri-ight.’ The man rolled his eyes and James got the impression he’d heard that particular criticism many times before. ‘I could smell the blood all the way down in the lab, that’s the only reason I came up.’ He turned to address James with a small smile and, in the light of the house, the vampire was surprised to see he actually wasn’t as old as he’d first thought. ‘It’s your lucky day.’ 

Then, he stepped past James into the night air and greeted Natalia with a jaunty wave. ‘Don’t worry, miss. You won’t have to spend time with Happy for much longer.’ A low growl drifted up from the square but the man didn’t pay the werewolf’s disgruntled response any mind.

Away from the direct light of the house, James’ night vision revealed that the man’s hair was actually silver and not grey. James wondered if the colour was natural, though he doubted anyone would be able to get that metallic shimmer out of a bottle. It reminded him vaguely of the unicorn dolls Becca had loved to collect in primary school. He immediately decided against ever telling that little tidbit to the man.

Shaking his head to clear it, James started to follow their mysterious host back down the porch steps. The man had reached Natalia and had bent down before her to inspect the gunshot wound from up close. She eyed him warily but let him rearrange her clothing so he could get a better look.

The man whistled between his teeth. ‘That’s a big slug you’ve got stuck inside you. Definitely soviet, old-school but very durable. Going by the spreading redness, it’s been coated in some anti-vampire substance. Mean stuff.’ He rambled off the details like they were of no importance, not even pausing as he wiped the welling blood from Natalia’s skin with a handkerchief. 

‘How bad is it?’ James asked, shoulders tense.

The man directed Natalia in pressing the handkerchief firmly against the wound to stem the flow of blood and shot James a reassuring smile. ‘She’ll hold until we can get a professional to take a look at her. Until then, you will be enjoying the patented Stark hospitality.’ Then he turned to regard the lurking werewolf by the fountain. ‘Hey Hap! Get Brucie for me, will you? Tell him to bring his vampire specialty goods.’

The wolf acquiesced with a yip and dashed off into the night. Apparently, the man held some authority over him. Which would probably also make him a werewolf, James realized with a jolt. Almost subconsciously, he inhaled deeply and caught a hint of fur and woodspice that he hadn’t noticed clung to the man before. The man let out a loud laugh. 

‘Now, I’m pretty sure I took a shower this morning, but you’re making me doubt myself real hard.’ He offered his hand to James for a quick shake because Natalia’s where otherwise occupied. ‘Anthony Stark, resident werewolf alpha. Call me Tony.’ 

‘Pleased to meet you.’

That name vaguely rung a bell, but James was distracted by the werewolf’s strangely enthusiastic expression. He was grinning broadly in almost canine-fashion, and for a brief second James was hit with the similarity to Steve. It was funny to see the exact same expression on an older, more dignified face with wrinkles added to the corners of the eyes and mouth. He wondered if  _ his _ wolf would carry that handsome smile into his middle age half as well. He hoped he’d have the opportunity to see it.

‘Geez, your friend’s got it really bad, sweetheart,’ Tony commented to Natalia, still grinning with an unwavering intensity. ‘Guess you bloodsuckers really do have sensitive hearts.’

Natalia tried to scoff, but it came out as a muted groan. ‘James a poet at heart. Hopeless romantic.’

‘Well, unfortunately, his hopeless romanticism isn’t going to help us get you up the stairs,’ he said, moving beside her so he could sling her free arm over his shoulder. ‘Come on, James, put your back into it!’

Blushing faintly, James slotted himself against Natalia’s other side, slipping an arm around her waist. He was struck by how warm to the touch she felt, burning up hotter than the werewolf at her other side. There was a feverish glint to her eyes as they helped her up, step by step, until they practically dragged her into the house. 

XXXXXXXXX

His hands were trembling. Steve discovered the barely noticeable tremor with dismay. A steady current of adrenaline ran under his skin like electricity, making it hard for him to concentrate and even harder to read the expiration dates on the medical supplies. Before Tony had ran out on him, he’d commanded Steve to get the first-aid kit ready and prepare for the worst. The young wolf had protested at first, the beast inside him clawing to fight beside his alpha at the frontlines, but Tony had calmly reassured him that there would be no great danger waiting for him and Steve would be more useful down in the workshop. 

Grudgingly, Steve had accepted his orders, but it had done nothing for the sense of heightened anxiety that kept him burning with the need to do something that was actually meaningful. His inner wolf was howling at the back of his mind with a vigour that Steve found hard to place. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what caused a part of his soul to pace restlessly, fangs and claws at the ready to protect his pack. Usually, Steve was the calm and collected one, reasonable to a fault. It was why he’d been selected to be Tony’s successor if the silver-haired alpha ever wanted to catch a break from the New York pack politics. Following the whims of his beast mindlessly wasn’t a state of being Steve ever wanted to sign up for, and yet… Here he was, getting stupidly high-strung in the face of a simple disturbance while a tinny voice nagged at him to drop whatever he was doing and get out there.

_ What if it’s James?  _ His wolf wheedled as he pawed restlessly at the ground.  _ We have to protect him. _

Steve tossed his head back in frustration.  _ It’s not going to be James,  _ he reminded the wolf firmly.  _ James is probably back at our dorm, sleeping peacefully or, even better, lying awake thinking of our kisses. _ Gods knew Steve wanted him to be.

To underscore his point, he tossed an expired bottle of ethanol on the discard pile he’d created on a nearby workbench. It missed and the bottle skittered against the metal surface before tumbling over the edge to the floor where it shattered into a dozen slivers of glass. 

Immediately, Steve’s nostrils were invaded by the horrible stench of hospital and powerful disinfectant. His mind was instantly transported back to a darker place and time. Many years ago, he’d spent days on end suffering from crippling migraines, but he’d endured them without complaining back then. After all, what was a little physical discomfort compared to what his mother had been going through at the time. In the end, her illness had consumed her as he held vigil at her bedside, and the pain of his headaches had faded as he sank fully into grief. Fortunately, Tony had been looking out for him even back then, paying the bills, arranging the funeral and giving Steve a roof above his head. Eventually, that house had become a home and the New York pack his family. His hatred of the smell of ethanol and hospitals had stuck, however. 

Cursing up a storm, Steve grabbed hold of a nearby oil rag and got to his knees to mop up whatever part of the mixture hadn’t evaporated yet. The shards clinked and scraped over the floor as he ineffectually wiped around them. The ethanol vapour hung thick in the air causing his head to pound at a furious pace, matching the beat of his wolf’s heart. The tremor intensified until he was positively vibrating in place and he had to abandon his attempt at cleaning. 

_ What was wrong with him?  _ Steve felt like he was going to jump out of his own skin at any second, shedding his human skin in favour of blonde fur. Normally, only the full moon could excite him to the point of turning, but that was still a ways off. He began to doubt if Tony had been right in telling him to stay put. Maybe his adoptive father was actually in trouble and his wolf was picking up on that despite the thick walls of the workshop shutting the rest of the world out. Adrenaline surged in his chest with a panicky flutter. He couldn’t stay down here, not while he was still in the dark about what kind of trouble the village had found itself in.

The quiet of the workshop shattered with a loud bang overhead and for a second Steve thought he could see the glass walls vibrating. He sprang to his feet with a snarl.

‘Whoa there, Stevie!’ Tony’s voice was laced with a growl and hit Steve like a smack upside the head. He slumped as the aggression was unexpectedly ripped away from him through his alpha’s implicit command to stand down. He fell back to the medical supplies with a low whine.

‘Good boy,’ Tony said with a hint of humour as he shuffled into view from the obscured staircase, belying the tense set to his mouth. At first Steve could only see the arm slung around his father’s neck and the slim figure leaning heavily against him. Her hair was vibrant and red, complimenting preternatural pale skin that Steve was used to seeing all gleaming like ivory under the light. Earlier tonight he’d watched her smear glitter highlight onto it under Clint’s boisterous encouragement, but now there were only a few stray particles clinging to her, weakly shimmering under the lab lights. His throat constricted in horror. The scent of ethanol was still too strong for him to confirm his suspicions as to her identity, but Steve had zero doubt that Natalia Romanova was bleeding sluggishly onto his father’s shirt. She appeared almost ghostlike due to blood loss but for Steve she might have stepped straight out of his nightmares.

Only one question burned on his lips as he darted forward to help.

‘Where’s James?’ His voice came out high and panicky when he finally managed to get his tongue to work. 

Natalia tilted her head just far enough to look at him. ‘Glad you’ve got your priorities straight, Rogers,’ she chided him with a drowsy half-smile, ‘though you should really learn to use your nose.’ She sniffed the air lightly as if to instruct him in how to do it, but scrunched up her nose as the ethanol hit her senses as well. ‘Or maybe not.’

‘Yeah, maybe not,’ Steve agreed with a hint of relief. It felt like a tiny part of him settled down, pushing the wolf back. He allowed Tony to enter further into the workshop with the wounded vampire in tow. If Natalia could still joke around, the situation might not be too dire after all. 

‘I’m right here, Stevie,’ a soft voice interrupted them and Steve turned towards the top of the stairs so fast his neck cracked audibly. James was standing just inside the doorway to the actual house, one hand resting on the banister and the other awkwardly balancing a crystal bowl and an old wine bottle filled with gold-coloured liquid. He looked exhausted, like he’d been on the verge of crying too many times in the last hour, and the corners of his mouth and eyes drawn tight in worry. Steve’s stomach did a perhaps inappropriate flop at the sight of him.

The vampire quirked an exhausted eyebrow. ‘There’s no need to badger the poor woman about me when I’m literally the least wounded vampire in the room, you punk.’

Of course, Steve was climbing the stairs before he’d even finished his sentence, pausing only to take the bottle from him before he drew the vampire into a firm one-armed hug. ‘You’re here,’ he breathed, drawing in a lungful of pinecone and anise from James’ neck. ‘You’re safe here with me.’ If his relief were a tangible force, it would land like a punch in the gut.

A shiver racked through James’ frame and he hiccuped wetly, pressing his body even more into the werewolf’s embrace. ‘You wouldn’t stand a chance against what I’ve seen, but thanks, Stevie.’ He rubbed his nose against Steve’s shoulder and his voice became more muffled. ‘Nat’s in a bad state, she should be in a supernatural hospital, but Tony said he’d get help and I didn’t know any other place to go.’ He trailed off with a heavy breath and Steve couldn’t help but press a quick kiss against his hair. 

‘You vampires always seem to forget that we werewolves are a tightly coordinated bunch,’ he reassured James as he stepped back from the embrace and started to lead him down the stairs to where Tony had disappeared off to with Natalia. ‘The pack has some kick-ass medical professionals and a communication system better than an orchestra of sirens. Give it a minute and the place will be crawling with them.’

The set of James’ shoulders relaxed incrementally at that. ‘You’re definitely the most organized out of the two of us,’ he said with a sniffle. ‘No clothes decorating the floor in your half of the apartment.’

Steve stepped onto the solid ground of the workshop floor and immediately grasped James’ free hand, giving it a quick squeeze as he guided him down the last few steps. ‘Well, we could change that once you feel up to it,’ he suggested with a wink. ‘Though I should probably take you out on a date first.’

James didn’t seem to have the energy left to blush but he squeezed back without hesitation. ‘I’ll hold you to it.’

From farther in the workshop Tony made a barfing noise. ‘Ugh. Are they always this sickeningly sweet?’

‘You don’t know the half of it.’


End file.
